The Army on Friday asked anyone who thought that it lacked the capacity to root out militancy in the Niger Delta or insurgency in any part of the country not dare it.
It issued the warning during its Tactical Manoeuvre and Fire Power Demonstration Exercise at the Kachia Military Range, Kaduna State, as part of events to mark its Army Day Celebration.
Members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and other militant groups in the region have consistently threatened to match force with force against military onslaught in the region.
Their threats came against the backdrop of the directive to the military by President Umaru Yar�Adua to fish out those behind the Bonga oil facilities which MEND had claimed responsibility.
The fire power demonstration, which showcased the country�s military hardware, was designed to send a strong message to the militants in the Niger Delta region.
The Army Public Relations Officers, Brig Gen Emeka Onwuemegbu, who spoke on the ocassion, asked anyone in doubt of the army�s capabilities to dare it.
�Is there anyone here who still doubts our capabilities to handle any situation or militancy in any part of the country?
�If there is anyone, anywhere, who thinks otherwise, let him dare us.�
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Luka Yusuf, had during his briefing last week stated that the fire power demonstration would be used to showcase the strengths of the army.
He had advised militants in the Niger Delta or anybody who doubted the capabilities of the army to handle the situation in the region to send people to observe the fire power exercise.
Yusuf said, �Anybody who thinks the Nigerian Army does not have the capabilities to handle the situation in the Niger Delta should come to the firepower display exercise.
�We are not at war in the Niger Delta. You call them militants, but I call them misguided children. If they were militants, then I would have had a different solution for them.�
Also, the former Chief of Army Staff and ECOMOG Commander, Rtd Maj.-Gen. Victor Malu, has said that in event of a full-scale war, the militants in the Niger Delta would be worse off if they dared the military.
Malu stated this when he joined the Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Fidelia Njeze, the United Nations Military Commander in Sudan, Gen. Luther Agwai, members of the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Defence, and Defence Attachees to Nigeria to observe the army shooting exercise.
He said, �The Niger Delta is not at war. You cannot go to war against any part of the country, unless the Niger Delta people decide on secession today.
�If that happens and the Federal Government orders that normalcy should be returned, there will be war. But, now, it is like fighting your own brothers and sisters and you can�t have the same thing that happens in war.
�I believe 100 per cent with the Army Chief that the militants in the Niger Delta are misguided. If given the opportunity to fight, it will not be in the best interest of the Niger Delta people because the army has the capability.�
Meanwhile, the Romanian Defence Attachee to Nigeria, Lt Col Avram Marus, has said that the fire power demonstration has shown that the Nigerian Army was a �ready army.�
He said, �This has shown the capabilities of the Nigerian Army. It has showcased its readiness and capabilities to handle modern challenges.
�I believe that this will greatly lift its standing at the international level, especially on peace keeping missions.�
The army at the occasion displayed its most modern Swiss, Russian, Italian, and Isreali-made artillery, with various capabilities.
Some of the equipment included the 28 kilometre range, computerised 155 Artillery Guns; 13,000 metres separate loading 122 Artillery Guns; Shalka Air Defence Artillery Guns; and, Armoured Personnel Carriers.
The army had a simulated war-situation for which it deployed some of its arsenals and ground troops to quell in less than two hours.