The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has appointed General Officers Commanding for four new Nigerian Army divisions established by President Bola Tinubu.
The Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Appolonia Anele, announced the appointments in a statement on Wednesday, describing them as part of efforts to strengthen the army’s force structure and improve its response to security challenges nationwide.
The new divisions will begin operations in their designated locations once they attain Initial Operational Capability, with full capability to follow in phases, according to the statement.
The army has also redrawn its divisional areas of responsibility. The 9 Division, headquartered in Ilorin, will cover Kwara and Niger states. The 10 Division in Jalingo will handle security in the border areas of Taraba and Adamawa. The 83 Division, based in Benin City, will take charge of Edo, Delta and Bayelsa once activated later this year.
Existing divisions retain their zones: 1 Division Kaduna covers Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa; 2 Division Ibadan covers Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo; 3 Division Jos covers Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe; 5 Division Makurdi covers Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi; 6 Division Port Harcourt covers Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River; 7 Division Maiduguri covers Borno and Yobe; 8 Division Sokoto covers Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara; 81 Division Lagos covers Lagos and Ogun; and 82 Division Enugu covers Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi and Imo.
Shaibu named Major General Yakubu Yahaya as GOC of the new 9 Division in Ilorin, where he also commands Operation Savanna Shield. He moves from Headquarters Joint Task Force (North Central).
Major General Chinedu Ralph Nnebeife takes over as GOC of the new 10 Division in Jalingo, moving from 2 Division/Sector 3 Joint Task Force (North West), where he served under Operation Fansan Yamma.
Major General Moses Gara becomes GOC of 5 Division in Makurdi, holding a dual role as Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke. He was previously with the Joint Task Force running that operation.
Major General Auwalu Mahmuda moves from the Army Headquarters Directorate of Inspection and Compliance to become GOC of 2 Division in Ibadan.
The army also activated three new brigades. Brigadier General AO Odubiyi moves from the Army Headquarters Operations Centre to command 11 Brigade in Gboko. Brigadier General AM Haruna moves from the Nigerian Army Armour School to command 29 Brigade in Kainji. Brigadier General RM Aminu moves from the National Defence College to command 10 Brigade in Lafia.
Shaibu congratulated the new commanders and urged them to maintain operational discipline and professionalism. He thanked Tinubu for what he called continued investment in the army’s capabilities, saying the new divisions mark a major step in strengthening Nigeria’s defence structure and would improve troop deployment, border security and coordination across military operations nationwide.
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