The Commandant, Nigerian Army Intelligence School (NAIS), Brigadier General David Umaru, has charged students of the combined third and fourth quarter courses of the institution, to understand, with the intention to disrupt, all Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) Networks.
A statement signed by Lieutenant Colonel Iweha Ikedichi Acting deputy director army public relations 81, division Nigerian army said the Commandant gave the charge at a sensitization lecture organized by the institution, as part of activities for the school’s lecture series.
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The sensitization lecture was organized to bring the students up to current speed on tactics employed by terrorist networks to perpetuate and evade security agencies’ operatives. The Commandant therefore called on all the students to be vigilant, as vigilance is the price to pay if terrorist attacks with IEDs must be defeated.
The Commandant’s remarks come as IEDs remain a persistent threat to troops and civilians in the Nigerian Army theatres of operation.
Against this backdrop, the lecture aimed to equip the students with the requisite knowledge to identify, track and help dismantle the networks behind these devices.
The lecture, delivered by a team of IEDs specialists from the Nigerian Army Engineers Corps, sought to trace the evolution of IED threats in Nigeria. The students were then taken through IED components, methods of initiation, modes of delivery and indicators of IED activity. Moving from the device to the people behind it, the team explained the IED cycle, including the networks, logistics and planning behind each attack. The team also outlined the correct actions on sighting a suspected IED and the key steps in investigating a blast scene. Outdoor practical sessions reinforced the lessons, with students taking part in demonstrations and interactive exercises.
Building on the lecture, the Commandant linked the lessons to the Nigerian Army’s Counter-IED Strategy. He explained that attacking the Network, one of the three pillars of the Strategy, depends on accurate and timely intelligence. He stressed that Counter-IED efforts must therefore go beyond responding to incidents. He charged the students to gather intelligence, analyse networks, identify key actors and disrupt the supply chains that sustain IED activities. This approach, he noted, allows troops to prevent attacks rather than absorb them.
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Beyond operations, the Commandant tied the lecture to the Command Philosophy of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu NAM, particularly the pillar of Professional Excellence. He explained that this pillar demands competent personnel who meet contemporary security challenges and operate effectively in a joint and multi-agency environment. By training intelligence personnel to attack IED networks, the School contributes directly to this goal.
He added that NAIS will continue to build the capacity of its students to meet the operational demands of the Nigerian Army.
