We’ll protect lives, properties in war against terror –Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday that utmost care was being taken by the Federal Government to protect lives and properties of civilians as the military cracks down on insurgents.
This is even as the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, assured that many territories will be reclaimed from Boko Haram.
The President said while receiving the new South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-Duk that everything possible will be done by soldiers to avoid human rights violations in the theatre of operations in the North-Eastern states.
“We are sticking to international best practices in prosecuting the war against terrorism and doing our best to ensure that we don’t have cases of human rights abuses in the North-East.
“We are consistently monitoring the situation and have investigated previous reports of such abuse which were mostly blown out of proportion for political reasons.
“Our military has a reputation for discipline and we have insisted on that discipline and control for the safety of civilians in the North-East.
“The purpose of the entire operation is to save our people from the brutal tyranny of Boko Haram, so we cannot tolerate human rights’ abuses or willfully impose further suffering on them,” he said.
The President urged Kyu-Duk and his Indonesian counterpart, Mr. Harry Purwanto, who was also at the Presidential Villa to present his Letters of Credence, to work for the strengthening of existing trade and economic relations between Nigeria and their countries.
The new ambassadors thanked President Jonathan for receiving them and assured him that they will do their best to promote stronger economic and cultural relations between their countries and Nigeria during their tenure.
Meanwhile, Gen. Minimah said yesterday that the successes recorded in the last few days were as a result of joint operations between the Nigerian forces and their Cameroonian, Chadian and Nigerienne counterparts.
The Army Chief said this at the opening of five-day seminar for the operational level officers of the Nigerian Army by the British Military Advisory ‎and Training Team (BMATT) held at Jaji Military Cantonment, Kaduna yesterday.
According to General Minimah, “at the end of the seminar, the Nigerian Army is expected to generate more capacity to gain more, recover more territories and it will help our Army to perform better and be more professional.
Leader of British Military Advisory ‎and Training Team (BMATT), ‎Brig Gen Jonny Bourne, said the world is facing a new wave of security challenges, therefore, the earlier the armies of nations around the world begin to learn from one another, the better.