Lieutenant-General-Tukur-Yusuf-Buratai
Army needs media
Lieutenant-General-Tukur-Yusuf-Buratai
Army needs media support to end insurgency, Buratai
tells DailyTrust
There is need for the Nigerian Army and the media to partner and
closely work together to totally defeat terrorism in the country,
says Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, the Chief of Army
Staff (COAS).
He said the support of members of the Fourth Estate will help
boost the morale of troops and also end terrorism, together with
other violent crimes across the country.
Buratai, added that it is also pertinent that the media houses,
and their reporters eschew reporting stories about military
operations inaccurately, and in a manner which is devoid of fact,
accuracy and credibility.
He stressed that such unprofessional conducts contribute in
emboldening insurgents and other criminal elements to continue
perpetrating their heinous crimes, pointing out that ‘undue media
publicity is the oxygen which makes insurgency to continue
thriving, world over.”
The COAS spoke on Tuesday at the Army Headquarters in Abuja,
when he received a delegation of the top management staff of
DailyTrust, who paid him a courtesy visit.
According to Lt. Gen. Buratai, the media is a key and relevant
stakeholder in the counter-insurgency project, hence it should not
provide the ‘oxygen’ needed for Boko Haram fighters and their
collaborators to survive.
He also underscored the need for the media to help enlighten the
general public about the ‘genuine’ intents and purposes behind some
military exercises recently launched, assuring that officers and
troops of the Army will continue to discharge their constitutional
and fundamental duty of protecting the territorial integrity of the
nation against internal threats and external aggression.
In a remark, Alh. Mannir Dan-Ali, the Chief Executive
Officer/Editor-in-Chief of DailyTrust, extolled the leadership
qualities of the Army Chief, while saluting the gallantry of troops
deployed to the North-East and other restive parts of the country
to restore peace and order.
He said their newspaper is willing to partner and support the
Army’s counter-insurgency war.