Nigerians will henceforth be requested to carry identification cards to prove their identity to the military as the Nigerian Army begins quick profiling of citizens under a new military exercise, codenamed: Operation Positive Identification.

The exercise, according to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, is to uncover those with questionable identities.

He said the operation will also stop dislodged and fleeing insurgents from accessing peaceful zones.

Buratai, who gave the hint during the launching of routine military exercises, Crocodile Smile IV, Egwu Eke IV and Ayem Akpatuma II, said the operation, which is currently taking place in the Northeast, will be extended to other parts of the country.

The COAS said the operation is meant to curtail the movement of bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, ethnic militia and other criminals.

Buratai, who was represented by Chief of Training and Operations in the Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. E. O. Udoh, stressed that the exercises became “necessary owing to the myriad of emergent threats that are burgeoning across the geo-political zones”.

He added: “As part of its constitutional roles, the Nigerian Army, acting in aid of civil authority, is poised to combating these threats.”