The Nigeria Army has said its new formation – the 148 Battalion, in Ekiti State, will bring about enhanced security and safety.
The outgoing Commander of 12 Brigade, Lokoja, Major General Oluremi Fadairo, said that the new formation would bring remarkable improvement to the security architecture of the state and in Kogi and Ondo states.
Fadairo spoke in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday when he led other senior Army officers including the new Brigade Commander, 12 Brigade, Lokoja, Brigadier General Kasim Sidi and the Commanding Officer of the new Battalion and the Garrison Commander, 32 Brigade Colonel Kyari Babakura, on a visit to Governor Biodun Oyebanji.
They were in the state to assess the new barracks of the Nigeria Army in Ikere Ekiti ahead of the deployment of personnel and equipment to the state.
The military chiefs expressed satisfaction with the location of the Army Barracks in Ikere Ekiti and assured the governor that the deployment of personnel would commence at the temporary base immediately as they requested a bigger space to serve as a temporary abode for the deployed personnel.
Fadairo urged residents of the state “to give the military the required maximum support and cooperation to enable it to achieve its desired objective of curtailing all forms of insecurity in the state.”
He said that the new formation was billed to take off in Ikere Ekiti with the commencement of deployment of personnel and materials to the state.
Oyebanji thanked the Nigerian Army for the new development, which he said would “further enhance safety and security in the state and further confirm Ekiti as the number one choice for people looking for where to live, work, relax and invest”.
The governor assured the Army authorities of effective collaboration with the military to strengthen security and stamp out criminal elements from the state.
He said that his government had been making frantic and conscious efforts to partner with all relevant security agencies to ensure the safety and security of lives and properties in the state.
Oyebanji said, “We are grateful to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces for the approval to establish this Battalion in Ekiti State. We are grateful to the Army Command, under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff, for doing this for us in the state.
“What you have done for us in Ekiti State is so dear to us. Ekiti State is peaceful, but we also have our own pockets of criminalities, and the area where the battalion is cited is one of the most security-challenged places in the state.
“This is an effort that we will give maximum support to ensure its early takeoff. You also see that immediately it was announced that we got the land from the community, so the people took ownership of the project.”
