The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has ordered Nigerian troops to eliminate a newly emerged terrorist group operating in Kaiama and Baruten local government areas of Kwara State within the next one month.
During a visit to Sobi Barracks in Ilorin on Wednesday, April 23, Oluyede addressed soldiers preparing for deployment and emphasised the urgency of the mission.
“So, you’re out here and I know you can do it to make sure those people (bandits) leave that place for us,” he said.
“If they want to enter another country, that is their business, but you must push them out of those forests so we will not have another set of Boko Baram disturbing us here.
“In the next one month, I don’t want to see any footprints of those criminals within that Kainji Dam,” he added.
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The newly formed terrorist group, known as Mahmouda, is believed to be establishing a base in the forested areas of the two LGAs.
Oluyede said the goal is to prevent the group from spreading and causing unrest in other parts of the country. He stressed that the army would provide all necessary support to ensure the operation’s success.
His visit was also aimed at boosting the morale of troops ahead of the operation.
“We cannot afford to allow bandits spreading out to another part of the country again,” the army chief said.
In an interview with journalists after addressing the soldiers, Oluyede downplayed the threat posed by the Mahmouda group, calling it an isolated case.
“I can tell you, in the next one month, things will be different. What is happening in Kwara cannot be threatening the sanity in Nigeria generally; it’s just an isolated case and we’ll deal with it directly,” he said.