The Senate on Thursday urged the Nigerian military to mobilise adequate personnel to liberate Abadam and Marte LGAs in Borno state allegedly under Boko Haram rule.
The red chamber, which acknowledged the immense sacrifice of the military, however, lamented the situation where Boko Haram is allegedly holding sway in two Borno local governments.
The Senate resolution was sequel to a motion on the “need to deploy adequate security personnel to endangered local government areas in Borno State” moved by Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, (APC – Borno North) during plenary.
Monguno noted: “For many years, Borno State has been bedeviled by insurgency with communities facing one form of attack or the other every now and then.
“Aware that recently, relative peace has been restored in Borno State, due to efforts of the Nigeria Armed forces, which are commendable.”
However, he said some communities are still besieged by insecurity, as Guzamala Local Government Area does not have any civil authority in place nor military presence, while Abadam and Marte Local Government Areas need security reinforcement.
He said that the aforementioned areas are predominantly agrarian communities with Marte Local Government Area being known for large-scale production of wheat and rice.
“Worried that communities in those areas are still under the captivity of Boko Haram, and the people have been suffering untold hardship as a result of the insecurity which has damaged the local economy, infrastructure, and livelihoods therein.
He was also worried that the absence of military personnel in the areas may cause the insurgents to become more emboldened and attempt to capture surrounding communities, thus ruining the previous efforts by the government to secure the State.
In his contribution to the debate, Senator Ned Nwoko (PDP – Delta North) said the popular thinking that empowering our security is the solution to insecurity is not true.
He canvassed for the convocation of a national dialogue spare-headed by the National Assembly that will afford all Nigerians including the youth, men, women, ordinary Nigerians the opportunity to to air their views.
“We need to have a nation where dialogue is encouraged”, adding that “attack helicopter alone won’t solve the problem.”
He said Nigeria needs to know why young Nigerians would like to carry guns to kill people or be killed.
Nwoko was of the view that something must be fundamentally wrong, which makes banditry and other crimes attractive to the youth.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC – Edo North) said the lawmakers must do more in their oversight functions, adding that the revelation that Nigeria allegedly bought Tucano jets instead of attack helicopters showed failure in oversight function.
He said: “Throwing money at problem, does not solve it. Let our Committee on Defence go beyond procurement to oversight”, he said.
Senator Ali Ndume (APC – Borno South) said there is already a taskforce in Chad region, which is a black spot, the problem is that the personnel are “not motivated”.
He said the operation against insecurity in Chad was led by the government (president). Although he was not asking for that here, the government must show more seriousness.
He said: “We need attack helicopters, which the nation spent about N899 billion to purchase.
“We are just approving $2.2 billion to fund budget”, querying “which budget when you are not safe.”
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over plenary on Thursday thanked Senator Monguno, the mover of the motion and all those who contributed.
He also commended the military for their efforts, which some have paid the supreme price, some incapacitated.
Barau urged the security forces to restore peace to the affected areas, adding that insecurity has international dimension and commended President Bola Tinubu for facing the international front and said with the support the Senate is giving the government insecurity will soon be a thing of the past.
Therefore, the Senate finally mandated the Committees on Army and Air Force to ensure implementation of its resolution.
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