Following a three-month appraisal exercise, the Northern Patriots (NP) have passed a vote of confidence on the Nigerian Army, rating its Operation Sahel Sanity as a success.
The Northern Patriots gave this commendation at a media interactive session on Thursday in Abuja.
Presenting the report on behalf of the group, National President, Alhaji Nuruddeen Dodo said sanity has been restored to the Sahel since the introduction of the exercise.
Launched in July, the operation was aimed to tackle banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling and other crimes in the North-West and parts of North-Central.
Barely two months after, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai extended the exercise to sustain the progress achieved within the period and enable troops to wipe out remnants of criminals from the zone.
In its report covering July 6 to October 10, 2020, the Northern Patriots said within a month of launching the operation, the people of the North-West witnessed a sigh of relief.
The report revealed that thousands of people that ran away from their communities after the bandit attacks immediately returned home.
It added that troops eliminated a good number of armed bandits, recovering a large cache of arms and ammunition.
The Northern Patriots, therefore, commended the COAS for extending the Operation Sahel Sanity to December as that will give it ample time to deal with the criminals in that region.
It, however, urged authorities to extend the exercise to other zones to sustain the successes achieved within the period.
