The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has approved the appointment of General Officers Commanding (GOCs) for the Nigerian Army’s newly established divisions, marking a significant step in the implementation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval to expand the Army from eight to 12 divisions.<\/p>\n
The appointments, announced in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Appolonia Anele, form part of a comprehensive reorganisation aimed at strengthening the Nigerian Army’s force structure, expanding its operational footprint, enhancing command and control, and improving its capacity to respond effectively to Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.<\/p>\n
According to the statement, the newly established divisions will commence operations upon attaining Initial Operational Capability (IOC), while deliberate measures are being implemented to achieve Full Operational Capability (FOC) in phases. The Army said the phased approach would ensure seamless operationalisation, operational continuity and rapid force projection across the country.<\/p>\n
Among the newly appointed GOCs, Major General Yakubu Yahaya has been redeployed from Headquarters Joint Task Force (North Central), Operation SAVANNA SHIELD (OPSS), to Headquarters 9 Division, Ilorin, where he will serve as General Officer Commanding and Commander of Operation SAVANNA SHIELD.<\/p>\n
Major General Chinedu Ralph Nnebeife has been moved from Headquarters 2 Division\/Sector 3 Joint Task Force (North West), Operation FANSAN YAMMA, to Headquarters 10 Division, Jalingo, as General Officer Commanding, while Major General Moses Gara has been redeployed from Headquarters Joint Task Force Operation WHIRL STROKE (OPWS) to Headquarters 5 Division, Makurdi, where he assumes the dual role of General Officer Commanding and Commander of Operation WHIRL STROKE.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Major General Auwalu Mahmuda has been redeployed from the Army Headquarters Directorate of Inspection and Compliance to Headquarters 2 Division, Ibadan, as General Officer Commanding.<\/p>\n
To strengthen the newly established formations, the Army also activated three new brigades. Brigadier General A.O. Odubiyi, formerly of the Army Headquarters Operations Centre, will command the newly established Headquarters 11 Brigade, Gboko. Brigadier General A.M. Haruna has been posted from the Nigerian Army Armour School to Headquarters 29 Brigade, Kainji, while Brigadier General R.M. Aminu has been redeployed from the National Defence College to Headquarters 10 Brigade, Lafia, as commander.<\/p>\n
The reorganisation also includes a realignment of divisional areas of responsibility. Under the new structure, 1 Division Kaduna will oversee Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states, while 2 Division Ibadan will cover Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states. The 3 Division Jos will be responsible for Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe states.<\/p>\n
The newly established 5 Division, headquartered in Makurdi, will oversee Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi states, while 6 Division Port Harcourt will cover Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. The 7 Division Maiduguri will remain responsible for Borno and Yobe states, and 8 Division Sokoto will retain responsibility for Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states.<\/p>\n
Under the new arrangement, the newly established 9 Division in Ilorin will oversee Kwara and Niger states, while 10 Division, headquartered in Jalingo, will be responsible for border areas in Taraba and Adamawa states. The 81 Division Lagos will continue to cover Lagos and Ogun states, while 82 Division Enugu will retain responsibility for Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi and Imo states. The newly created 83 Division, headquartered in Benin City, will oversee Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states when it becomes operational later this year.<\/p>\n
Lieutenant General Shaibu congratulated the newly appointed commanders and urged them to provide visionary leadership, sustain operational momentum and uphold the highest standards of professionalism, discipline and mission effectiveness.<\/p>\n
He reaffirmed the Nigerian Army’s commitment to safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, protecting the lives and property of law-abiding citizens, and supporting the attainment of lasting peace and security nationwide.<\/p>\n
The Army Chief also expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his continued support and strategic investment in expanding the Army’s operational capabilities, describing the establishment of the additional divisions as a historic milestone in the ongoing transformation of the Nigerian Army.<\/p>\n
He added that the expanded force structure would significantly enhance command and control, improve operational coordination, strengthen border security, facilitate faster deployment of troops and resources, and boost the Army’s ability to respond decisively to emerging security threats across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has approved the appointment of General Officers Commanding (GOCs) for the Nigerian Army’s newly established divisions, marking a significant step in the implementation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval to expand the Army from eight to 12 divisions. The appointments, announced in a statement issued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":95856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1837,8558,8557,82,654,5753],"class_list":["post-99829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","tag-1837","tag-divisions","tag-gboko","tag-ibadan","tag-jalingo","tag-shaibu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99830,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99829\/revisions\/99830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}