By Ayoni M. Agbabiaka Abuja
The Director, Defence Information, Major General John Enenche, has called for sustained media support to actualise a total defeat of terrorism in the country. Th e General, with other members of the information team, made the appeal yesterday during his familiarisation visit to corporate headquarters of Blueprint Newspaper in Maitama, Abuja. He commended the management of Blueprint for the quality of information churned out to the public in spite of its short stay in the Nigerian media space, while acknowledging the organisation for the partnership they have had over the years.
He appealed to the organisation not withdraw its support, but sustain the relationship already established and acknowledged the role of the media in the fi ght against insurgency and terrorism in the country.
He, therefore, called for a sustained working relationship with the media, urging Blueprint to extend the support given to his predecessor, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, to him. He said: “Th e directorate of information has been performing well, but it’s doing well is not without some tools” adding that the media, especially Blueprint, has contributed immensely to the Nigerian Defence. “Th ey mentioned two papers that has contributed immensely to the Defence and Blueprint Newspaper is one of them”, he said.
On recent acts of terrorism in the north east, Enenche, said the war against terrorism and insurgency may not be over, it is absolutely close to being a forgotten history in the country.
He argued that there was “defeat and there was wining by percentage and assessment militarily”, adding that the recent cases of bombing by the insurgents were just to create fear in the minds of the people. On issues of military officers’ excesses and abuse of civil rights of other Nigerians, he said all such cases were being investigated to ascertain the true position of things.
“Whether the allegations are true or false, whether the members of the defence are right or not, we will investigate,” he said. In his response, the Chief Operating Officer, Blueprint Newspaper, Salisu Umar, noted that security was everybody’s business hence the company’s resolve to dedicate pages to the defence activities as a means of contributing its quota to the development of the country. “Security is everybody’s business and Blueprint, specifi cally, is acknowledging the eff ort of the Nigerian defence in the North-east, therefore, we said there must be a dedicated defence page on a weekly basis.
He assured of continuous support to the defence. “We will extend the support to your predecessor also to you.”
