Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organizations for Peace has urged Nigerians to take advantage of the yuletide to appreciate the sacrifices of troops fighting the Boko Haram insurgency by visiting their families and praying for them.
The group which was reacting to a letter written by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen TY Buratai, to officers and men of operation Lafiya Dole fighting the Boko Haram insurgency, said Nigerians are not oblivious of their many sacrifices.
“I commend you for your sacrifices, commitment, loyalty and courage in the service of our fatherland. I wish to make this call to action and wake up call to you all and to emphasize that we must immediately begin to embark on the final aggressive action and comprehensive sweep of the operational theatre with a view to ending the operation on a very high note,” Buratai said in his letter.
However, the National Co-ordinator of the Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organizations for Peace, Bishop Musa Fomson urged Nigerians to pray for the troops as they embark on this mission
He said, the organization had in the last two months gone round the interiors of Borno State and can authoritatively confirm that the war against insurgency has been won by the Nigerian Army.
This has necessitated the organization to consider the Chief of Army Staff and the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole for awards.
According to him, the prayers of Nigerians are necessary as a way of appreciation to God for giving victory to the soldiers of humanities who have made enormous sacrifices to restore Nigeria back to its rightful place according to divine plans in combating the insurgents.
He said, “It is expected that the already defeated terrorists might want to take on some soft targets in their usual characteristic manner just to cause panic in the minds of citizenry going about their respective lawful duties and therefore the need for vigilance is very important. This is because even in peace time, miscreants take advantage of merry making to commit heinous crimes against humanity and the liberated communities that were recently freed from the insurgents require the special attention canvassed by General Buratai in his well celebrated letter to the troops.
“That Nigerians should show their appreciation to these selfless men and women by using the Christmas season to visit families of Nigerian soldiers, share food and drinks with them and to continue to appreciate them as it is done in other parts o the world.
