The Nigerian military says it is under pressure to compromise the 2023 elections.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, made this known at the ministerial media briefing organised by the presidential communications team at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
The defence chief however said the military will remain neutral and assist the police in monitoring and securing the process.
The defence chief maintained that the military is apolitical, noting that necessary measures are being put in place to ensure that they obey President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to maintain neutrality.
He said the personnel are being trained to be more professional while rules of engagement before, during and after the elections have been codified and distributed to them.
Irabor said the personnel are also receiving professional training on election duties.
He also spoke of the key achievements of the military in the effort to keep the country safe including more recruitment into all branches of the security services, routing of insurgency and banditry as well as curtailing oil theft.
Irabor noted that over 300,000 people have been freed from abductors since 2014 while refugees who fled the northeast due to the insurgency have started to return.
The CDS also said that former insurgents currently under training will graduate in February 2023.
The goal, Irabor said, is to increase the number of on-the-ground personnel to combat insurgency and banditry and curtail oil theft which will eventually lead to increased crude oil production.
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