President Bola Tinubu has approved the creation of a new Nigerian Army depot in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State.
With this decision, Nigeria will now have three army depots, adding Abakaliki to the long-standing facilities in Kaduna and Osogbo.
The announcement was made on Saturday by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, in a post shared on X.
He confirmed that the President had given the approval for the new facility as part of efforts to expand the army’s training and operational capacity.
He said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a new depot for the Nigerian Army in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. This development takes the number of depots in Nigeria to three up from one that has existed for decades. – Kaduna – Osogbo – Abakaliki”
A video shared alongside the announcement featured the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Waidi Shaibu, who explained that the new depot is meant to strengthen the Nigerian Army in response to ongoing security challenges across the country.
“All these are geared towards increasing the strength of the Nigerian Army, and the reasons are not far-fetched. There are security challenges across the length and breadth of the country in each geopolitical zone,” Shaibu said.
According to Shaibu, the depot will initially train 3,500 new soldiers, while another batch of 3,500 troops is expected to arrive from Osogbo next week.
He said all the personnel will undergo advanced infantry training before being deployed to different parts of the country.
He added that modern technology will be used during training, including indoor shooting ranges designed to improve soldiers’ accuracy and readiness.
“So now with this additional 3,500 troops coming on board, as well as next week we have another 3,500 troops coming on board from Oshogo, all these troops will now be given further training, advanced infantry training, before their deployment in various areas of operation. To increase the strength of our venerable troops and boots on the ground in tackling the security challenges in the country.
“Even in training here, we are leveraging technology. We have the indoor shooting range, which is one of the ways we look to improve their marksmanship principles. And that is part of leveraging technology, right from their training session. When they go to the field, they will have more advanced specialist training as well, so that they complement their skills in preparing them for the tasks ahead,” he said.
Shaibu said the addition of the Abakaliki depot will help increase the number of troops on the ground and improve the army’s ability to respond effectively to threats nationwide.
KanyiDaily recalls that the Senate recently approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to send Nigerian troops to the Republic of Benin to help stabilise the country after an attempted coup over the weekend.
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