Military Begins ‘Operation Udoka’ to End Banditry, Sit-at-Home in South-East

By Tony Icheku in Owerri

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher G. Musa, on Monday in Owerri announced the establishment of  “Operation Udoka’ to  flush banditry and  end  the sit-at-home menace in the South-East region

The  Chief of Defence Staff accompanied by the GOC 82 Division, Enugu and other top ranking officers in the military made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy call on Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma at Government House, Owerri.

General Musa told Gov Uzodimma that he came to Imo to see the troops in the State to ensure they do their duties by “observing the rules of engagement,” and to reaffirm that we are one in the fight for security of Nigeria.”

He added that he was aware of the activities of the criminal elements in Imo State and South-East in general and assured the governor that the military was “tackling them to achieve total peace and preserve unity of Nigeria.”

He assured of professionalism of the security agencies, saying that “the security leadership will not tolerate any infractions by any of their men because their men are expected to be part of the solution and not of the problems.”

In his response, Gov Uzodimma welcomed  the proposed “Operation Udoka’ by the Military  in Imo State provided that they would be sincere and honest in discharging their duties. 

He further urged that drivers of the operation be properly educated, equipped and guided to operate within rules of international engagement.
Uzodimma told the CDS that “sit-at-home is not the major problem now in South East, but what the people are suffering from is fear of the unknown, resulting from experiences of what happened at the beginning of the banditry, violence and mayhem in the State.

He appealed to the army and other security agencies to do all within their reach to eradicate banditry, vandalism and kidnapping and help to restore peace in Imo State and South-East in general.

On the part of the State Government, the Governor assured of getting the buy in of the citizens to cooperate with the security to restore peace.
He requested the army to continue to work hard to reduce the spate of crude oil theft to the barest minimum, and “bring back the crude oil production to its highest.” 

He said, “this is possible through the combined efforts of Armed Forces and the police working together.”

The governor reminded the Defence Chief that “it is not true that the only news that comes out of Imo State is banditry, criminality and violence but lots of other positive news also come from the State.”

While he commended the Army for their efforts in containing banditry, violence, kidnapping and other vices in Imo State and other South-East States in general, the governor regretted that some of their men paid the supreme price while carrying out their duties.

He lauded the synergy between all the security agencies in Imo State, which he said yielded a lot of positive results in their operation.