Security has been beefed up in Maiduguri and environs as President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to visit the town to declare open the Fourth Quarter Chief of Army Staff Conference.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that this is the first time the president will be gracing the quarterly chief of army staff conference since he assumed office.

The quarterly conference is used to review the army’s activities, including operations and exercises with a view to improving on them.

The president is also expected to use the occasion to address troops on the frontline in the North East and assured the people of the region of his administration’s determination to prosecute the counterinsurgency battle to a logical conclusion.

The president’s visit is being interpreted as a morale booster for officers and soldiers in the aftermath of killing of a number of soldiers at Metele in Northern Borno, by the Boko Haram terrorists group.