Army flag off Egwueke 3 in Southeast

The General Officer Commanding 82 Division Nigerian Army Major General Abubakar S. Maikobi in conjunction with the Chairman South East Governors Forum – the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State Engineer David Umahi has flagged off Exercise EGWU EKE 111 in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

General Maikobi at the flag off assured Governor Umahi and the people of the Southeast of the resolve of the Nigerian Army under the leadership of Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai to remain neutral, professional, responsive and apolitical in the discharge of its constitutional roles.

In his remarks at the event, Umahi thanked the Chief of Army Staff for the selection of Ebonyi State as the Step Up Headquarters for the Exercise, urging the troops to respect human rights throughout the period of the Exercise.

The Deputy Governor of the State Dr Kelechi Igwe, Speaker of the  Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Heads of sister security agencies in Ebonyi State and all the Brigade Commanders in the Division’s Area of Responsibility attended the Flagg off Exercise.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division Nigerian Army, Major General Abubakar Sadiq Maikobi had paid a courtesy visit to the Governor Ebonyi State Engineer David Umahi on Saturday the 5th of January 2018.

While stating the purpose of the visit, General Maikobi posited that “I am here to formally inform you I have taken over as the GOC 82 Division. I am also mandated by the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai to inform you as the Chief Security Officer of the State that Exercise EGWU EKE 111 was flagged off in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The Exercise is scheduled to take place from 1 January to 28 February 2019 and is to be conducted simultaneously across the nation to check criminals and criminality before, during and after the forthcoming elections”, he added.

The GOC further informed Umahi that Ebonyi State under his purposeful and transformational leadership was selected as the location for the Step Up Headquarters for the Exercise in the South East Zone which is sited at the 4 Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant Reserve Depot Abakaliki.

According to him, “we have since taken over the site, work is at the final stage and we intend to invite you to Flagg off the Exercise soon”.

He used the opportunity of the visit to assure their host and the good people of Ebonyi State that the Nigerian Army under the leadership of Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai will remain neutral, professional, and totally apolitical and will not compromise its constitutional roles under any guise – he further stated.

In his remarks at the occasion, Governor Umahi thanked the COAS for his support to the government and the people of Ebonyi State in the area of security and for the selection of Ebonyi State as the Step Up Headquarters for the Exercise.

According to him “Despite the fact that Ebonyi State is relatively peaceful, the presence of this Exercise will further increase the level of security and I urged you to ensure that your personnel should not in any way harass/maltreat innocent civilians in line with the advocacy/ postulation of the COAS”.

The Commander 82 Division Provost Group, Commanding Officer 24 Support Engineer Regiment Abakaliki and Deputy Director Public Relations 82 Division among others, accompanied the GOC during the visit.