President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan undertook a surprise visit to Maiduguri Thursday on the occasion of Nigeria’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day to meet with officers and men of the Armed Forces currently in the frontline of the war against terrorism and insurgency in the country.
Accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, the National Security Adviser and the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, President Jonathan visited officers and men of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri to thank them for their patriotic and courageous service to the nation.
President Jonathan also assured the troops that the Nigeria Government will continue to do everything possible to ensure that they get the weapons, equipment, welfare and logistics support they require to completely rout the insurgents and restore full security and normalcy to affected parts of the country.
“In terms of equipment and logistics, we have already made considerable progress since the insurgency started and we will continue to improve in that regard until your operations are successfully concluded,” he told the soldiers.
Before leaving the Borno State capital, President Jonathan visited over 900 displaced persons from Baga at a camp in the city. The President commiserated with the displaced persons on the losses they suffered during the attack on their town by Boko Haram.
Jonathan, who is running for re-election in February, has not visited the northeast since a state of emergency was imposed in May 2014.