Banditry: Wake up to your duties, Senate tells military

Disturbed by the rising attacks, killings and abductions, the Senate on Wednesday tasked the military to work harder in protecting Nigerians.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the rising cases of kidnappings and killings made it imperative for the military to wake up.

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He said the military establishment had gotten a lot of support in terms of support and therefore urged them to justify it.

He spoke yesterday during the debate on a motion by Senator Bello Mandiya (APC, Katsina), who called the attention of his colleagues to the rising cases of banditry and kidnapping in Katsina State.

Lawan wondered why full-scale action was yet to be carried out by the military in spite of increased funding for security.

He said: “The expectation of the Senate is that there is supposed to be a remarkable difference in success in terms of the fight against insurgence, banditry and militancy in Nigeria.

“The military is getting better funding from the government and what we expect is to see an improvement in output.

“I know the resources are not enough but recently, for one and a half years, the government has up-scaled the level of funding for our military.

“Secondly, when we declared the bandits as terrorists, my understanding was they are going to be dealt with ruthlessly now. I wonder whether that is the case.

“The military, like some of our colleagues have said, needs to wake up. We want to see a difference because we have made a difference in terms of funding.

“I know funding alone will not be enough, but funding can make a difference and we expect a difference in the outcome,” he said.

‘Deploy fighter jets’

The Senate also on Wednesday urged the government to deploy fighter jets to flush out terrorists from their hideouts; and the security agencies to comb all known hideouts of kidnappers to rescue the 38 persons abducted in Faskari LGA of Katsina State.

Earlier, Senator Mandiya had said that killings and kidnappings by gunmen had become a daily occurrence despite the government’s effort in curbing the menace by setting up Operation Sharan Daji and the Inter-Agency Task Force to tackle cases of banditry.

He said the 38 persons were abducted on Sunday when gunmen attacked Ruwan Godiya in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina.

He expressed worry that the continuous security challenges and related attacks by bandits on towns, villages and communities in Faskari LGA subjected the affected areas to serious survival threats.

Also, Senator Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya (APC, Katsina), faulted the inability of the military to contain the situation despite several calls for it to act.

“What is happening in Katsina shows that we don’t have to only condemn it, we have to do something very serious, because we cannot just sit down after declaring these bandits terrorists and then allow them to continue all these acts,” he said.

Senator Abdul Kwari (APC, Kaduna) said: “I am tempted to ask Mr President, where are the Tucano fighter jets that were recently acquired by the federal government and heavily celebrated by all of us that these bandits have come home to roost?

“Unfortunately, we are now told that Nigeria will need a second layer of approval for it to use these Tucano fighter jets against these bandits that we have all agreed should be termed terrorists.

“The whole nation should rise and get whatever that is needed to be gotten for the use of these fighter jets on these bandits for us to move forward.”

Daily Trust reports that apart from the support Nigeria got from different countries in terms of training and logistics, the federal government had budgeted monies running into trillions of naira since 2010 to contain the menace of Boko Haram in the North East.

There were other approvals for defence, among them the $1 billion approved from the Excess Crude Account.

Over the years, while there is appreciable progress in taming the Boko Haram terrorists in the North East, bandits sprung up in the North West and parts of North Central and have so far killed thousands of people, maimed many, destroyed towns and villages and crippled the economic fortunes of the people as well as forced many students out of schools through abductions.

Military commanders had at different times said most of the operations they were asked to handle ought to have been shouldered by internal security establishments like the police, civil defence, immigration and others.

‘New era of peace’

While the senators were lamenting the protracted security challenges in the country, President Buhari said on Wednesday that Nigerians in the North East will witness a change from insurgency to peace and development.

The president said this at the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East.

The event preceded the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

Buhari announced that his administration was embarking on a revised approach to addressing the 13-year conflict and insurgency in the region and will not relent in efforts towards the return of peace and normalcy.

“At the advent of this administration in 2015, I pledged to Nigerians that I will restore peace in the North East and return it to the path of development and growth. I remain committed to this promise.

“I pledge to you that in the coming months you will begin to witness a shift away from a protracted insurgency to peacebuilding, stabilisation, and ultimately development in your respective communities as we embark on a revised approach to addressing this conflict- A return to normalcy,’’ he said.

On the terms of reference for the committee, the president said that it entails a shift from managing the situation to activating a permanent solution for effective and practicable restoration.

He said the committee, among others, is expected to develop a concise three-year action plan by the end of March 2022 that incorporates national and state level plans, providing a clear pathway for the restoration of peace and development in the North East.

The committee, he said, will also develop and implement a phased plan for the repatriation, returns, resettlement of IDPs and restoration of livelihoods, incorporating global best practices that give dignity to the affected populations.

According to him, they will also be responsible for the development and implementation of a coordinated peacebuilding and reconciliation programme that is culturally appropriate and community-driven.

The president also commended Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, who was present at the inauguration with his Gombe counterpart, Inuwa Yahaya, for his commitment to his people and exemplary leadership.

The members of the presidential committee include the ministers of finance, budget and national planning; attorney general of the federation and minister of justice; minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development; as well as minister of interior, foreign affairs and defence.

Others are the national security adviser, inspector-general of police, chief of defence staff, director-general, SSS, director-general, NIA, director-general, North-East Development Commission, federal commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants & Internally Displaced Persons, director-general, NEMA and chief of defence intelligence.

While fielding questions from journalists after the inauguration, Governor Babagana Zulum expressed the delight of the people of the region over the development that would cater for IDPs.

He also applauded the plan to bring back refugees from the Republic of Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.

He said the committee would also look into the management of the repentant Boko Haram members and promised the support of the North East governors to the committee under the leadership of the president.

He expressed confidence that the repentant Boko Haram members had truly repented as they were calling their colleagues in the bush to come out and join the process of peacebuilding.

Asked whether some of these refugees were ready to come back after his interaction, he said: “In fact, they are over ready. They have been agitating for a return for the last two and a half years. But, unfortunately, the enabling environment has not been created for that return.