The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, says the Ministry of Defence is an oversight agency for the military and is not involved in its operations.
NAN reports that Olonisakin made the clarification in Abuja on Monday at a “policy brief dissemination on counter-terrorism legislation in Nigeria’’.
He was represented by the Director Civil Military Relations, Defence Headquarters, AVM A.A. Kasimu
The event, which was organised by Cleen Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), focused on key findings and recommendations from its survey findings.
“The Ministry of Defence is an oversight agency for the military; it is not directly involved in the operations of the military.
“For the operational part of the military, it is the defence headquarters that is saddled with such responsibility. The defence headquarters is in charge and civil-military relation is a line of its operation.
“The ministry of defence runs its own programme and is not directly involved in military operations,’’ he said.
He, however, noted that the army, the navy and air force, all work for the defence headquarters.
Olonisakin said that the ministry of defence was the grand strategic level with authority to oversee the military.
He, however, said that both arms of defence would work towards building a healthy relationship between civilians and the military.
Mr Tony Ojukwu, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), lauded the government for the introduction of the National Security Strategy, National Cyber Security Strategy and the Terrorism Prevention Act.
Ojukwu, represented by the Head Monitoring Department, NHRC, Mr Benedict Agu, said that the policies and strategies were efforts put in place to boost the role of federal agencies to be more `human security focused’.
He reiterated the commitment of NHRC to institutionalise respect for human rights and the rule of law and to create an enabling environment for extra-judicial recognition.
This, he said, was through the promotion and enforcement of all rights recognised and enshrined in the constitution and other human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a party.
“The National Human Rights Commission is involved in the Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) programme that is coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser for the benefit of all.
“The collaborative effort of the NHRC with other partners would foster civil-military relations in Nigeria.
“We also believe that to ensure that there is respect for the rights of Nigerians by security agencies in the war against terrorism currently ongoing in different parts of Nigeria.”