Nigerian Army to commence ‘Operation Scorpion’ in Southern Kaduna, others

The Nigeria Army plans to conduct military exercises in Southern Kaduna, Pla­teau and Kano States – tagged Op­eration Kunama (Scorpion) – as part of measures to contain the onslaught of Fulani marauders against farmers in the region.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, disclosed this yesterday to State House corre­spondents after President Mu­hammadu Buhari convened the first national security meeting of 2017.

It was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff and service chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy; the Inspector-General of Police; Director-General of the Depart­ment of State Services (DSS); the Minister of Defence, and the Di­rector-General of the National In­telligence Agency (NIA).

Buratai disclosed that the Ar­my’s ‘Operation Python Dance’ in the South East zone, which has been criticised by many in the region, would be renamed.

The southern part of Kaduna State has been enmeshed in mur­derous carnage in recent weeks, with the herdsmen leaving be­hind scores of dead villagers and residences destroyed.

The consequent uproar made the President to order a military intervention and deployment of two Army battalions to help re­store normalcy there.

In line with this, Buratai an­nounced after yesterday’s securi­ty meeting that military opera­tions would even extend beyond Kaduna to the neighbouring Pla­teau and Kano States which had also witnessed similar challeng­es in the past and could flare up at any time.

He said the President’s di­rectives concerning the South­ern Kaduna operations remain in force and that troops will con­tinue to carry out their patrols there.