The Nigerian Army has donated a solar powered borehole, refurbished an abandoned borehole and distributed educational materials to Taka-lafia community and Government Secondary School Gitata in Karu local government area of Nasarawa State.
Chief of Army Staff Lt-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja while commissioning the projects stressed the need for community engagement for enduring peace across the country.
The donations came after violent ethnic clashes in Taka-lafia community that claimed over 30 lives.
Lagbaja who was represented by the director of Operations at the Army Headquarters, Major General E.E. Emekah, said timely intelligence and response would ensure peace and forestall breakdown of law and order in communities.
He said such could only be achieved in an environment where community members trust the troops and vice versa.
“Let me reiterate the commitment of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, to the security of lives and property in the country and in this community.
“We sympathise with you over what happened but I’m very excited that you have put the past behind you and you are going forward.
“So we will ensure that our presence will continue to be here, our soldiers will continue to come here on patrol once in a while and we want you to keep in touch with them.
“Keep in touch with the commanding officer who is now a member of the community, if there is any problem here, you should be able to reach him and he will know how to react appropriately. We wish you people well and pray that your lives will surely be better than what you left behind and we pray that the evil that happened to you before will not come again.
“We know there are evil people in every community but for the safety of the good ones they will not manifest. We don’t want to hear any evil news from this community,” he said.
The commander, Guards Brigade, Col. Adebisi Olusegun Onasanya, said civil-military activities remained an integral part of military operations to restore peace while also impacting lives.
He urged residents to always provide credible and timely information to prevent crimes.
The commanding officer, 177 Guards Battalion, Lt. Col. Auwalu Baba Inuwa, said the dilapidated nature of the school with over 800 students informed his decision to provide them educational materials to aid teaching and learning.
He also said the Taka-lafia community was selected for the borehole and reactivation of the abandoned one due to lack of basic amenities including water.
The Sangarin Gitata, Turaki Danlami Rabo, thanked the Nigerian Army for the donations and pledged to support the military in its quest to restore peace in his domain and across the nation.
