Jutha Gupah, Maiduguri
The Borno State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Kaka Shehu Lawan has said that 400 former members of Civilian-JTF that supported military in counter-insurgency operations have been enlisted into Nigerian Army. The recruitment of Civilian-JTF was facilitated by state government to fight Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed many lives and property in the Northeast. Lawan disclosed this on Monday, while addressing 103 new recruits of soldiers that completed their training at the Nigerian Army Training Depot at Government House, Maiduguri. According to him, the former Civilian-JTF personnel were given all the necessary training to become full-fledged soldiers. He explained that the recent announcement of last recruitment process by Army, informed the state government encouraged interested members of Civilian-JTF interested to apply for enlistment into army. “We, as a government, helped them to purchase the forms and facilitated all the process of their going to the Depot,” he said. Continuing, he added: “Today (Monday), they have passed their Depot training and are now bonafide soldiers of the Nigerian Army. “The 103 soldiers drawn from the Civilian-JTF were recruited based on merit. They were not done any favour by the Nigerian Army. “The recruitment exercise comes up every quarter of the year, and during each exercise, we utilise the opportunity to encourage those interested to join the Army.” Speaking on total enlistment from Borno, he said: “In the first batch we had 80 of them enlisted into the Nigerian Army. In the second batch we had about 170 of them; and now we have 103. “We also have 30 of them that have been recruited into Department of Security Service (DSS), while a few have also been taken by the Police.” Governor Kashim Shettima was also impressed with the transformation of over 400 former Civilian-JTF members into the Nigerian Army. He said the Civilian-JTF has also taken credit of robust civil-military relations that is being enjoyed across the state. His words: “The emergence of Civilian-JTF in Borno state; has positive effects on the relationship between the Nigerian Armed Forces and civilians. “Your enlistment into Army is a positive development and we urge all our youth with interests in the military to continue enlisting, because no one is better equipped than the gallant youth of Borno, in pursuing the path of peace here, because they know the terrain better than anyone else. “I will communicate to the relevant authorities for your deployment to your home state so that you can help us in entrenching the emerging peace in our region.” The Governor announced an allocation of 103 plots of lands and cash donation of N15.15 million to the soldiers. He also directed the distribution of 206 bags of rice, 103 jerry cans of cooking oil and corn meals. He said the distribution of food items, are to meet basic needs of their families, while fighting Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.
