In a move that will definitely raise eyebrows, the Nigerian Army announced on Saturday that it will begin its annual exercise tagged ‘Exercise Crocodile Smile nationwide next Tuesday.
The sudden announcement by the Army of the exercise involving large deployment of troops will surely be interpreted as a move to use soldiers to stop the EndSARS protests which is gaining support across many town and cities of the country.
But in an obvious anticipation of such criticisms, the Army, in a statement by its Acting Director of Public Relations emphasized that the annual Exercise CROCODILE SMILE is traditionally conducted in the last quarter of the year.
He added that this year’s Exercise is scheduled to commence from the 20th of October to the 31st of December 2020.
But the assertion in the statement that the 2020 Exercise is deliberately intended to be all encompassing to include cyber warfare exercises designed to identify, track and counter negative propaganda in the social media and across the cyberspace will also not give the #EndSARS protesters who had relied on the internment and social media for coordination of their activities much comfort.
“This is the first ever Cyberwarfare exercise to be conducted in the history of the African Armed Forces.
“Accordingly, the exercise will also include positive identification component aimed at identifying Boko Haram terrorists fleeing from the North East and other parts of the country as a result of the ongoing operations in the various theatres of operations especially in the Northeast, North Central and North Western parts of Nigeria.
“The Nigerian Army, once again, reassures all well meaning Nigerians of its commitment to the sustenance of peace and security in Nigeria and urges members of the public for their support and understanding throughout the period of the exercise,” Musa said in the statement.
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The Protests are against the criminal and wicked enterprise called the Nigeria ruling class that is insanely borrowing foreign loans that they can’t pay during their lifetime. It is also a rebuttal of the false and hollow impression that youths are complacent and indifferent to their own plight. The supremacy of this devilish empire can only be extinguished by the determination, zest, verve and grit of the youths and now is the time! The enemy is the greedy ruling class. Drafting the armed forces to face the people they are supposed to protect is abnormal and will not work. The army and police are accountable to the people. Doing this will be courting the International Criminal Court Hague.