The Theatre commander operation LAFIYA DOLE Major General Rogers Nicholas on Sunday 4th February 2018, led a joint team of Field Commanders from Operation LAFIYA DOLE and Cameroonian Defence Forces to formally receive and induct Cameroonian troops who arrived Gwoza to join in the ongoing counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations in the north eastern Nigeria and the borders between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Welcoming the troops into the theatre of operation, the Theatre Commander charged them to exhibit discipline and professionalism in the discharge of their assigned tasks and duties. He urged them to be courageous and display aggression towards the insurgents during operations. Major General Nicholas also admonished the troops to be obedient to instructions from their commander’s, adding that their compliance with these instructions will facilitate the decisive defeat of the insurgents sooner than expected.
The Theatre Commander was accompanied by the leader of the Cameroonian Defence Forces delegation Brigadier General Djonkeb Frederick, the General Officer Commanding 7 Division Major General Ibrahim Yusuf, the Chief of Staff Headquarters, Theatre Command, Brigadier General IL Akinlawon and other senior military officers from both countries.
Meanwhile, additional 26 insurgents have surrendered to troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE.
The insurgents who surrendered from the Damboa general area of southern Borno also submitted their weapons to the troops.
Parading the surrendered insurgents before international and local press correspondents, the Theatre Commander Major General Rogers Nicholas told the insurgents that all Nigerians were delighted to witness their penitence and abandonment of Boko Haram’s hypocritical ideology and futile struggle. He assured them of adequate safety and subsequent participation in the Federal Government’s deradicalization and rehabilitation program under the auspices of Operation SAFE CORRIDOR adding, that no surrendered insurgents will be harmed by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole. Gen Nicholas further urged them to call on their contemporaries who are still putting up resistance and fleeing, to reject Boko Haram hypocritical leaders and surrender to troops nearest to their locations.
Some of the surrendered insurgents who interacted with members of the press disclosed that the ranks of the Boko Haram insurgents have been severely depleted and fatigued, hence the resort to abandoning the struggle and surrendering.They also called on their comrades to turn in themselves to troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE assuring that no harm will be done to them if they surrender voluntarily.
