Senate calls on Buratai, other service chiefs to resign

The Senate, on Tuesday, asked the country’s Service Chiefs to step aside owing to the rising insecurity in the country.

This followed a motion by Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno).

• End to insecurity in your hands, Buratai tells Nigerians
• Insecurity persists as military launches over 40 operations in 5 years

The resolution asking the service chiefs to resign was moved by Senator Francis Fadahunsi (Osun) and seconded by Senator Betty Apiafi (PDP, Rivers).

Fadahunsi said: “The additional prayer is that the present corps of service chiefs should step aside for the new ideas to come in so as to improve our security situation.”

The motion was approved after a voice vote.

In his lead debate, Senator Ndume expressed worry over the rising voluntary retirement of army officers.

The Red Chamber, accordingly, asked its joint committees on Army, Navy, Airforce, Police, Defence and Interior to find out why officers were deserting from the service.

It also urged the federal government to urgently intensify the provision of modern security equipment to enhance the operational capability of the armed forces.

Lawan, in his remarks, said though the army was trying its best to secure the country, the effort was not enough.

‘End of insecurity in the hands of Nigerians’

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, had said in Abuja on Monday after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari over the security situation in the country, that Nigerians could end the spate of insecurity in the country by exposing the criminals living within them.

He said citizens were not helping matters by only complaining about insecurity and accusing security agencies of not doing enough.

Buratai said terrorism, banditry, insurgency, kidnapping and other security challenges would end when the citizens wanted them to end.

However, some experts spoken to Monday night by Daily Trust said many Nigerians and community leaders are now afraid to divulge information to security agents because they ended up being killed.

Buratai’s comments came as 192 people were killed in different parts of the country within the last three months, including dozens of security personnel, according to Daily Trust tally.

President Buhari had on Thursday, June 18, 2020, reprimanded his service chiefs, including Buratai, that their “best was not enough” in containing the deteriorating security situation in the country.