Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Edo on Tuesday has been cancelled as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference, initially billed to hold in Benin City has been shifted to Maiduguri, Borno State.
President Buhari’s aide on New Media, Bashir Ahmad confirmed this development on his tweeter handle on Sunday evening.
He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare the COAS Annual Conference on Nov. 28, 2018 at the Conference Hall CGH in Maiduguri, Borno state.
The conference was earlier scheduled to take place from 26 -28 November 2018 in Benin, Edo state.”
The Nigerian Army also revealed it through their twitter handle on Sunday.
“The COAS Annual Conference scheduled for Benin from 26 – 30 November 2018 has been moved to Maiduguri. New date is from 28 – 30 November 2018. The CinC is expected to declare the conference open on 28 November 2018 at 1100 hrs, venue Conference Hall CGH Maiduguri.”
Nigerian ArmyThe COAS Annual Conference scheduled for Benin from 26 – 30 November 2018 has been moved to Maiduguri. New date is from 28 – 30 November 2018. The CinC is expected to declare the conference open on 28 November 2018 at 1100 hrs. Venue Conference Hall CGH Maidugur
Arrangements had been completed by Edo State Government to host President Buhari on November 27 where he was billed to inaugurate the Edo-Azura Power Plant and grace the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference.
The shifting of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference from Benin City to Maiduguri might not be unconnected with the killing of Nigerian soldiers at Metele, a remote village bordering Nigeria and Chad.
President Buhari would use the opportunity of the COAS conference to address the Nigerian soldiers at the battlefields to further boost their morale.
It would be recalled that President Buhari had on Sunday presided over a meeting of security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of the ongoing efforts to engage military and intelligence community towards addressing Boko Haram insurgency.
President Buhari had pledged on Saturday to ensure that the loopholes, which led to the fatalities are blocked once and for all.
On 18 November, the Al Barnawi faction of Boko Haram attacked the 157 Task Force Battalion based at Metele in northern part of Borno state, killing scores of Nigerian troops.