The General Officer Commanding, 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen Auwalu Mahmuda, says the Old Oyo National Park has been taken over by the Army and converted into a training centre. This is following the abduction and subsequent rescue of more than 40 schoolchildren and their teachers in Oriire Local Government……
The General Officer Commanding, 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen Auwalu Mahmuda, says the Old Oyo National Park has been taken over by the Army and converted into a training centre.
This is following the abduction and subsequent rescue of more than 40 schoolchildren and their teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Maj-Gen Mahmuda disclosed this when he received members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Oyo State Council, at the division’s headquarters in Odogbo, Ibadan.
He said the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Waidi Shuaibu, directed the 2 Division to use the park as a training ground, adding that the Army had since taken over the facility.
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According to him, the development is part of measures to secure the vast forest area and prevent criminals from using it as a hideout.
The GOC explained that the Army’s presence in the park would also provide an opportunity for troops to train in terrain similar to the forest environment where criminal elements could operate.
He said the move was necessary to strengthen security around the area and prevent a repeat of the kind of incident witnessed during the abduction of the schoolchildren and their teachers.
The takeover of the park comes months after the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire, an incident that triggered heightened security operations across parts of Oyo State.
