Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero representing Kebbi Central Senatorial District of Kebbi State has said that Nigeria is technically in a war emergency hence it requires immediate military upgrade to enable security forces carry out more massive onslaughts against terrorists and non-state actors causing mayhem in the country.
The senator seeks a declaration of emergency on insecurity that prioritizes immediate increase in military workforce and a rapidly revised approach to existential threats to national peace, unity and stability.
He said time had come to unleash the fresh potentials of the nation’s critical mass especially the youths in line with President Bola Tinubu’s national development agenda.
He disclosed this yesterday while speaking to journalists in Abuja on the recent speedy screening and confirmation of the Acting Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant Olufemi Olatunbosun Oluyede by the Senate and House of Representatives respectively. He stated that joint exercise by the lawmakers was part of their consistent commitment to efforts geared towards bringing peace to all segments of the Nigerian society.
According to the four-term senator and member of the Senate Committee on Army, maximum military force by Nigeria’s armed forces would permanently wipe out the new Jihadist Lakurawa group in Kebbi and Sokoto states and other threats to national security.
‘’Nigeria is technically at war, with terrorists, bandits, insurgents, non-state actors, look at the North East, North Central, North West and the South East, we are virtually at war but our gallant forces are not relenting.
‘’In Kebbi, when our troops go after the Lakurawas, they recover cows, goats and valuables stolen from the people, then they (Lakurawas) run into nearby Niger Republic through the very wide porous borders only to come back when our soldiers retreat. That’s the problem.
‘’The border is very wide, Kebbi alone has almost 200 kilometers border from beginning to the end and all is bordered by two countries, Benin and Niger Republics which impose heavy measures on the terrorists.
‘’While the Nigerien government maintain their troops, we can’t do same because we don’t have enough workforce, our entire workforce is not more than 200, 000 in a country of over 200 million whereas Egypt with a population about 80 million has more than a one million-man army. The situation calls for urgent mass recruitment.
‘’When the civil war started, we had about 60, 000 soldiers. We had a massive recruitment that raised it to over 500, 000 to win the 3-year war after which we de-mobilized them.
‘’The problem remains that we don’t have enough personnel, even if the military keep troops stationary in crisis-prone areas, they will find it difficult because of personnel accommodation. That is the dilemma. How do you expect a recruited soldier to go to the war front without housing his family? It’s difficult to keep them anywhere permanently.
‘’To be honest, we should declare emergency on insecurity to fight the war decisively with our military might-air power and ground troops’’, he said.
‘’We are keenly watching the Lakurawa situation in Kebbi. Senator Yahaya Abdullahi in whose constituency they attacked has properly brought the matter to the senate. We can’t have another Northeast in the Northwest. The Northwest has more population, richer in agricultural land, animal husbandry with rivers for good irrigation, fishing and other things.
‘’The new Jihadist terrorists are not bandits who have no ideology or doctrine but to kill, steal. This new one has religion in their minds trying to preach purity in Islam, but also going after cattle owners for zakat (tithes), if you resist they forcefully take your cows away, and they kill anyone they see in uniform, army, immigration, customs, police, etc. But people don’t seem to realize’’, he said.
‘’Their strategy is simple: they lure the people to believe that they just want to teach religion while also extending themselves, doing massive recruitment, this is how Boko Haram started, they are doing massive recruitment of people, they have money like Al Queda, when they buy anything they pay in hard currency, we suspect Al Queda is involved.
‘’Don’t forget Al Queda caused all the trouble in Iraq, Syria, they masterminded the Arab Spring, look at what’s happening in Somalia, they are killing people every day, even in Kenya but the government came down heavily on them. Ours cannot be different. ’
“We will continue to work assiduously with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to keep the country safe, secure and stable because insecurity does not recognise race, religion, tribe, tongue or party affiliation. Security is everybody’s responsibility’’, he said.
