May 2, 2018

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Tukur Buratai, has warned officers and men of the Nigerian Army not to resort to social media to air their grievances or discuss operational strategies.

Buratai said  such acts could be injurious to national security.

He gave the warning on Tuesday when he declared open an Officers Office Management and Documents Security Workshop at the Command Officers Mess, Abuja.

Buratai, who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Maj.- Gen. Rasheed Yusuf, warned that resorting to the social media was highly prohibited by the military.

He said that the army had well established channels to address complaints.

He said that the workshop was meant to equip officers on the importance of securing service documents in a manner that would not jeopardise any operations and administration.

The army chief said that to check the excesses of some officers, a directorate had already been initiated to focus solely on the management of the social media in the service.

” The social media has brought out additional challenges to information security which are being used by misguided personnel contrary to our service rules.

“The Nigerian Army has an extant policy on the use of social media which prohibits among others, the use of social media to discuss or disclose service matters.

“It is indeed unfortunate and unprofessional for service personnel to resort to social media to disclose classified information or express grievances when the Army has well established channels for addressing complaints.

“The ultimate objective of the forum is to build your capacity to effectively support my vision which is to have a professional responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional role,” he said.

Buratai called on the officers to take the workshop seriously, adding that some service documents were highly classified to the extent that their disclosure could be injurious to national security.

He said, hence, officers needed to be updated on how to preserve the sanctity of service documents and the threats in these areas.

The Chief of Administration of the Nigerian Army, Maj.- Gen. Idris Alkali, said that it was unprofessional for any officer or soldier to disclose any official information without authorisation.

He noted that security of documents is one of the cardinal requirements for effective operations and administration in the military,” especially as the Nigerian Army is involved in numerous operations both within the country and globally”.

Alkali said that the workshop was meant for officers involved in the generating, drafting and releasing of documents that could jeopardise document security.

” It is against this background that the workshop is being organised to improve the professional competence of Nigerian Army officers in maintaining the sanctity of service documents,” Alkali said.