Army begins ‘Crocodile Smile’ amid #EndSARS protest

Tukur Buratai

The Nigerian Army says it will on Tuesday kick off its annual exercise tagged “Crocodile Smile” to identify, track and “counter negative propaganda” on the internet.

Army spokesman Musa Sagir stated this in a release on Saturday.

“This year’s Exercise CROCODILE SMILE V1 is scheduled to commence from the 20th of October to the 31st of December 2020,” the statement read.

“The Exercise is deliberately intended to be all encompassing to include cyber warfare exercises designed to identify, track and counter negative propaganda in the social media and across the cyberspace.

“This is the first ever Cyberwarfare exercise to be conducted in the history of the African Armed Forces. Accordingly, the exercise will also include positive identification component aimed at identifying Boko Haram terrorists fleeing from the North East and other parts of the country as a result of the ongoing operations in the various theatres of operations especially in the Northeast, North Central and North Western parts of Nigeria.

“The Nigerian Army, once again, reassures all well meaning Nigerians of its commitment to the sustenance of peace and security in Nigeria and urges members of the public for their support and understanding throughout the period of the exercise.”

The military’s move follows its threat to deal with “trouble makers” amid the #EndSARS protest.

The protesters have been demanding an end to police brutality.