ARMY troops will soon start stopping Nigerians along the street and asking for their identity cards citizens under a new military exercise codenamed Operation Positive Identification introduced to combat the influx of terrorists into the country.
Nigeria has already introduced a national identity card scheme and several centres have been set up nationwide to issue them. According to the chief of army staff Lt General Tukur Buratai, the new regime has been introduced to uncover those with questionable identities and will also stop dislodged and fleeing insurgents from accessing peaceful zones.
Dropping the hint during the launching of military exercises Crocodile Smile IV, Egwu Eke IV and Ayem Akpatuma II, General Buratai said the operation, which is currently taking place in the northeast, will be extended to other parts of the country. He added that the operation is meant to curtail the movement of bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, ethnic militia and other criminals.
General Buratai stressed that the exercises became necessary owing to the myriad of emergent threats that are burgeoning across the geo-political zones. He added: “As part of its constitutional roles, the Nigerian Army, acting in aid of civil authority, is poised to combating these threats.”
