- A group has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for visiting soldiers in Maiduguri
- The group also commended the service chiefs
- The group also said the president's visit will serve as a morale boosting tool for the troops fighting insurgency in the northeast
A group has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for visiting soldiers fighting insurgency in Maiduguri, Borno state.
The group, the Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) commended the president and the service chiefs for using the Independence Day celebration to visit troops in the northeast region.
CATE said the president's visit will not only help assess the success of the fight against insurgency but serve as a morale boosting tool for the troops.
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The national president of CATE, Gabriel Onoja, in a statement also congratulated Nigerian's on the 57th Independence Day celebration.
Onoja said Nigerians must be mindful of the fact that certain institutions and individuals have placed their lives on the line to ensure the current peace and calm in the country.
He said: "We should not lose sight of the fact that some of our gallant military men are in the trenches, in the bushes and have not slept or seen members of their families just so that we can sleep with our two eyes closed. This is the greatest gift to all of us on Independence Day."
Onoja enjoined all Nigerians to not only reflect on the measure of sacrifice being made by troops to keep Nigeria as one and secure but to salute the thoughtfulness and devotion to duties of both the top brass and the rank and file in the military and other security agencies.
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He also said there is a need to to sustain the hard-line approach the military has taken against the terrorists in order to make life more meaningful to Nigerians.
"This is very important because no nation can lay claim to independence or freedom if terrorists are allowed to occupy any of its territory," Onoja said.
NAIJ.com previously reported that President Buhari departed Abuja to Maiduguri hours after addressing the nation on the 57th Independence Day celebration.
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President Buhari is also expected to spend part of the remaining day with soldiers fighting insurgency in the northeast.
This is the first time the president visited the region since assuming duty as the president of Nigeria.
Watch this video as Nigerians speak on how they would celebrate the country's independence:
Source: Naij.com