3rd Armoured Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1967–present |
Country | Nigeria |
Type | Mechanized Infantry |
Role | Combat support |
Size | Division |
Part of | Nigerian Army |
Garrison/HQ | Jos, Nigeria |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
General Officer Commanding | Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar |
Notable commanders |
|
The 3rd Armoured Division is a division of the Nigerian Army. The division is headquartered at Jos, Plateau State.
The 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army dates to August–September 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War. At that time 1 Area Command at Kaduna was redesignated 1 Infantry Division, 2 Division was formed under Colonel Murtala Mohammed, and the then Lagos Garrison Organisation was renamed 3 Infantry Division, later to be renamed 3 Marine Commando under Colonel Benjamin Adekunle. [1]
Then-Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo took over command of 3 Division from Benjamin Adekunle on 12 May 1969. [2] He carried out a thorough reorganisation of the division's administration and eliminated the sector level of command which had been operating between the division and brigade level. [3] He also formed a new reserve battalion, the Special Task Force, later to become 'Apollo Battalion' after the Apollo 11 Moon landing of 20 July 1969, which was not to be used for ground-holding duties. [4]
At the end of the Civil War, the three divisions of the army were reorganised into four divisions, with each controlling territories running from North to South in order to deemphasise the former regional structure. Each division thus had access to the sea thereby making triservice cooperation and logistic support easier. This deployment formula was later abandoned in favour of the present assignment of sectors to the divisions. Thus 1 Division with HQ at Kaduna is allocated the North West sector; 2 Division with HQ at lbadan South West sector, 3 Division with HQ at Jos North East sector and 82 Division with HQ at Enugu South East sector.[ citation needed ]
3rd Armoured Division was responsible in April 1983 for the security of areas bordering Chad during the Chadian–Nigerian War. [5]
From October 22 to 24, 2001, several hundred Army soldiers of the Yola Brigade (23 Brigade) of 3rd Armoured Division killed more than two hundred unarmed civilians and destroyed homes, shops, public buildings and other property in more than seven towns and villages in Benue State, in central eastern Nigeria. The 72nd Special Forces Battalion appears to have tried to intercede with the Yola Brigade to avoid further killings, in the midst of the events. [6]
The division has the following structure: [7]
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