The Army yesterday unveiled a motorbike battalion to add impetus to its war on insurgency in the Northeast.
Simultaneously, it released a fresh list of 100 suspected members of the terror sect, Boko Haram, wanted for various act of terrorism in the country. It also opened the Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu, one of the major highways in the Northeast for traffic after over two years of closure necessitated by the insurgency in the area.
In launching the Motorbike Battalion at the 25 Task Force Brigade, Damboa, Borno State, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai said it was to ensure that “our roads are safe” and give the military an edge in the ongoing counter-insurgency war.
He said now “our troops will be able to pursue Boko Haram anywhere.”
On the reopened road, Buratai said: “the safety on this road is in care of the Brigade Commander of 25 Task Force Brigade. I do not want to hear any attack on this road, motorists plying this road must be safe.”
The COAS appealed to the public to come up with information that will assist in the arrest of terrorists, adding that many terrorists in the first list of 100 wanted were identified and arrested.
He said the new list of 100 suspected terrorists is for the members of the public to identify and report their whereabouts so that they could be brought to justice.
Reacting to the opening of the highway, the Secretary of Borno State Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Adamu Musa, expressed appreciation to the COAS for making it a reality.
He, however, called for between 20 and 30 checkpoints on the road in order to check the threat of the terrorist sect.
The Army had late last year published the first set of 100 suspected members of the terrorist sect, Boko Haram wanted by the security agencies.
