Video: Tinubu approves third army training depot in Abakaliki to bolster fight against insecurity
President Bola Tinubu
Abdullateef Fowewe
President Bola Tinubu has greenlit the establishment of a new Nigerian Army Training Depot in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State in southeastern Nigeria.
Video: Tinubu approves third army training depot in Abakaliki to bolster fight against insecurity
Announced on Saturday by Dada Olusegun, a social media aide to the president, this marks the third such facility in the country, expanding from the historic Depot Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State (founded in 1924), and a second one approved in Osogbo, Osun State, in August 2025.
The initiative aims to decentralise soldier training across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, tackling rising threats like insurgency, banditry, and terrorism.
By spreading out facilities, the government seeks to ramp up production of combat-ready troops, integrate specialized skills such as marksmanship and fieldcraft, and improve recruit welfare—reducing dependence on the single northern depot.
In a video shared by Olusegun, Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu elaborated on the strategic push.
He highlighted the urgent need amid nationwide security woes, “There’s security challenges across the length and breadth of this country in each geopolitical zone. So now with additional 3,500 troops coming on board. As well as next week we have another 3,500 troops coming on board from Osogbo.”
Shaibu also emphasised technological upgrades at the new depot stating, “Yeah, right from training, even in training here, we are leveraging technology. You have an indoor shooting range which is one way to improve their marksmanship. And this part we’re leveraging right from their training in depth.
“When they go to the field they have more advanced specialist trainings as well so that we complement their skills in preparing them for the battlefield. All these troops will now be given further training before they are deployed in various areas of the region to increase the strength of the available boots on ground in terms of security challenges.”
