By Samuel Malik
Newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin, a Major General, has said he will introduce new methods in the fight against insurgency, especially with regards to intelligence gathering.
“We must explore every available means to obtain real-time and actionable intelligence in all our operations,” Olonisakin said.
The defence chief made this known when he officially took over from his predecessor, Alex Badeh, a retired Air Marshall, at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, on Tuesday.
“We will look at ways to strengthen the existing arrangement as well as provide new strategic direction. We will set specific timelines and milestones to be achieved; look at gaps in the ongoing efforts and do all that are needful, with the support of government, to address these gaps especially in the areas of actionable intelligence, logistics, communication and other critical equipment,” CDS stated.
He said that there is need for cooperation between security agencies in intelligence sharing and promised to fully utilise the recently assembled Military Command Control Centre by equipping it with the necessary personnel and equipment.
Oil theft, armed robbery and other crimes in the country will also be tackled, according to Olonisakin, who is the 16th Chief of Defence Staff.