The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has directed troops of the Joint Task Force North Central, Operation Savannah Shield, to step up ongoing operations against kidnappers, bandits, and other criminal elements threatening the peace and security of communities within the Joint Operations Area.

The directive was issued on Thursday during his maiden operational visit to the Headquarters of the Joint Task Force North Central at Sobi Barracks, Ilorin, Kwara State, where he addressed personnel and assessed the state of ongoing security efforts across the region.

Delivering his charge to troops, the Army Chief emphasised that the Nigerian Army remained resolute in its constitutional responsibility to safeguard the lives and property of citizens, and that criminal elements operating in the region must be decisively denied the freedom to terrorise communities, infiltrate settlements, or undermine national security.

He called on soldiers to sustain the operational momentum that had been built up through recent clearance activities and to ensure that no ground was ceded to criminal networks entrenched across parts of Kwara and Niger states. Army Headquarters, he assured, was deploying the necessary combat enablers and operational resources to reinforce the ongoing clearance operations and dismantle known criminal hideouts in both states.

Lieutenant General Shaibu also addressed the welfare of personnel, stressing that the well-being of troops and their families remained a priority for Army Headquarters, and that improved welfare conditions were fundamental to maintaining the high morale, operational effectiveness, and combat readiness required to prosecute the current campaign. He urged soldiers to remain disciplined and professional in the conduct of operations, and to stay loyal at all times to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the democratically elected government.

The Theatre Commander of Operation Savannah Shield, Major General Y. Yahaya, had earlier received the COAS and commended him for what he described as strategic leadership and sustained support for the operational capacity of the Joint Task Force. Yahaya assured the Army Chief that troops under his command would remain committed, professional, and steadfast in executing their mandate to restore lasting peace and stability to the North Central region, which has for years been plagued by a persistent cycle of banditry, kidnapping, and communal violence.

The visit underscores a renewed sense of urgency from the Nigerian Army’s top command in addressing the security situation in the North Central zone, where criminal elements have continued to terrorise farming communities and travellers along key highways, despite sustained military pressure.

The directive from the COAS signals that Army Headquarters intends to push for more decisive outcomes on the ground in the weeks and months ahead.