BY FAIZA JIBRIN, JULY 28, 2025 | 4:07PM
To strengthen the protection of women and children in conflict areas, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), in partnership with the British Defence Staff, has launched a four-day workshop on Human Security and Civil-Military Relations for personnel of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) in Maiduguri.
The workshop which kicked started on Monday at Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri brings together personnel to explore non-kinetic strategies for sustaining peace, improving civil-military cooperation, and safeguarding civilians.
A representative from the Defence Equators team, Chief of Defence Civil-Military Relations, Rear Admiral Olusanya Bankole speaking on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, highlighted the military's growing commitment to human-centered security.
'To sustain peace, we must protect everyone and ensure their needs are met. This goes beyond military victories to building security through food security, environmental security, and civilian protection,' he said.
He emphasized that apart from kinetic efforts, there's a need for non-kinetic efforts to sustain peace in the long run.
The workshop will equip officers with practical tools to mitigate the impact of operations on civilian life, focusing on community interaction and support.
A humanitarian outreach is planned, including a visit to a local school in Maiduguri to offer medical and psychosocial support to children and their families.
'We are going to a school just to show love and to reach out to them in terms of medical and humanitarian outreach,' he mentioned.
This initiative aims to change the perception of the military from being harsh and distant to being protectors and partners in peace.
'The military has to use force because of issues of bandits. But further to that, we show empathy to people. We try to build relationships with people,' CDS noted.
While in her remarks, founder and Executive Director of the Allamin Foundation, Hajiya Hamsatu Allamin, praised the Nigerian military for initiating collaboration between security forces and civil society, describing the workshop as a "milestone achievement" in Nigeria's security history.
'The cooperation, collaboration, and coordination we have been calling and yearning for has just been kick-started and then it is initiated and rolled out by the Nigerian military,' she said.
She also urged everyone to 'answer this call for cooperation, collaboration, work together so that we get this right and all other sectors and architecture of this country.'
The event brought together top military personnel, British Defence Staff representatives, and civil society actors, reinforcing the importance of compassion, collaboration, and human dignity in peacebuilding.