[]
The Nigerian Army has appointed new General Officers Commanding, GOCs, for some of its newly established divisions following the expansion of the force structure from eight to 12 divisions.
The appointments, approved by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, followed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval for the creation of four additional divisions.
In a statement on Wednesday, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Apollonia Anele, said the development was aimed at strengthening national security and improving the Army’s operational effectiveness.
She said the new divisions would commence operations after attaining Initial Operational Capability, IOC, while efforts would continue towards achieving Full Operational Capability, FOC.
According to Anele, the expansion would strengthen command and control, improve operational coordination and facilitate faster deployment of troops and resources in response to emerging security threats.
Under the new structure, 1 Division, Kaduna, will cover Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states, while 2 Division, Ibadan, will oversee Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states.
The 3 Division, Jos, will cover Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe states, while the newly established 5 Division, Makurdi, will be responsible for Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi states.
The 6 Division, Port Harcourt, will cover Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states, while 7 Division, Maiduguri, and 8 Division, Sokoto, will retain responsibility for Borno-Yobe and Sokoto-Kebbi-Zamfara respectively.
The newly created 9 Division, Ilorin, will cover Kwara and Niger states, while 10 Division, Jalingo, will oversee Taraba and Adamawa. The 81 Division, Lagos, and 82 Division, Enugu, will retain their existing areas of responsibility.
The 83 Division, headquartered in Benin City, will cover Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states when activated later in the year.
To lead the new formations, Major General Yakubu Yahaya has been redeployed to 9 Division, Ilorin, as GOC and Commander, Operation SAVANNA SHIELD.
Major General Chinedu Ralph Nnebeife was appointed GOC 10 Division, Jalingo, while Major General Moses Gara will head 5 Division, Makurdi, and simultaneously serve as Commander, Operation WHIRL STROKE.
Major General Auwalu Mahmuda has also been redeployed to 2 Division, Ibadan, as GOC.
Charging the new commanders to justify the confidence reposed in them, Lt. Gen. Shaibu urged them to “provide visionary leadership, sustain operational momentum and uphold the highest standards of professionalism, discipline and mission effectiveness.”
The COAS described the creation of the additional divisions as “a historic milestone in the transformation of the Nigerian Army,” saying it would strengthen command and control, border security and the deployment of troops against emerging threats.
The Army expressed confidence that the expanded structure would strengthen joint and multi-agency operations and contribute to restoring lasting peace, security and stability across the country.
= 1140 ) { /* large monitors */ var adEl = document.createElement(“ins”); placeAdEl.replaceWith(adEl); adEl.setAttribute(“class”, “adsbygoogle”); adEl.setAttribute(“style”, “display:inline-block;width:468px;height:60px”); adEl.setAttribute(“data-ad-client”, “”); adEl.setAttribute(“data-ad-slot”, “”); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); } });window.addEventListener(“load”, function(){ var placeAdEl = document.getElementById(“td-ad-placeholder”); if ( null !== placeAdEl && td_screen_width >= 1019 && td_screen_width = 768 && td_screen_width < 1019 ) { /* portrait tablets */ var adEl = document.createElement("ins"); placeAdEl.replaceWith(adEl); adEl.setAttribute("class", "adsbygoogle"); adEl.setAttribute("style", "display:inline-block;width:468px;height:60px"); adEl.setAttribute("data-ad-client", ""); adEl.setAttribute("data-ad-slot", ""); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); } });window.addEventListener("load", function(){ var placeAdEl = document.getElementById("td-ad-placeholder"); if ( null !== placeAdEl && td_screen_width
