The Nigerian Army has established a new 5 Division, to be headquartered in Benue State, and preparations for its operational take-off are now under way. Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia received a delegation from the Army Headquarters Implementation Committee, led by Major General Raymond Usaha, together with the division's General Officer Commanding, Major General Moses Gara, at the Government House in Makurdi.
The delegation held a strategic briefing with the governor on the operational take-off of the newly established division. It presented the outcome of its needs assessment and set out the areas that require stakeholder support to ensure the successful establishment and smooth take-off of the formation.
According to the briefing, the new division will cover three states: Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi. The move is part of a wider effort to bring military structures closer to the communities most exposed to violence in that part of the country, where troops have repeatedly been deployed in recent years.
For many years, farming communities in the region have suffered deadly attacks that forced record levels of displacement and prompted emergency troop deployments. The army's new approach, the delegation explained, is to create additional formations and units so that it can respond more directly to the concerns of the affected population.
Governor Alia welcomed the development and pledged the state's cooperation. As host to the 5 Division headquarters, Benue would provide adequate land for the headquarters and for all the formations and units, along with logistics support to help the troops carry out their duties more effectively.
The expansion is expected to improve command and control, speed up the deployment of troops and enhance the army's ability to respond to emerging security challenges across the region, according to the account given at the briefing.