FG needs additional 100,000 soldiers to defeat insurgents – Zulum

The Nigerian military would require additional manpower to effectively prosecute the ongoing war against insurgency, Borno state governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has said.

Speaking when he hosted the members of House of Representatives Committee on Defence on Wednesday, Prof. Zulum advised the federal government to consider recruiting 100,000 soldiers to address the manpower deficit currently being faced by the military.

He said the state government was willing to contribute over 50,000 youths to boost the manpower needs on ad-hoc basis which can be disengaged after the ongoing war has been successful prosecuted.

“Take my words, they (the military) don’t have the manpower; they don’t have the equipment. Kindly advise the Speaker and the Senate President to tell Mr. President to approve the massive recruitment of soldiers. We need about 100,000 more to be recruited into the Nigerian Army. They should come and employ the locals whether they have western education or not.

“We need to recruit nothing less than 50,000 men from Borno; we have able-bodied men that can join the Nigerian Armed Forces on an ad-hoc basis,” stressing, “you cannot fight this war without manpower, technology and proper funding.”

He acknowledged the many successes recorded by the military in the war against insurgency when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed power in 2015, but pointed out that Boko Haram has continued to launch simultaneous attacks since March, 2019 with debilitating consequence.

“I have always admitted that the federal government has done well under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari. At a time, about 20 local government areas were displaced but after May 29, 2015, almost all the roads were opened and the local governments retrieved.

“But notwithstanding the gains that we had, between March 2019 till date, we have experienced horrific and simultaneous attacks throughout the state. As I told the Theatre Commander, we are experiencing the attacks in quick geometrical ratio,” he averred.

He urged the Nigerian military to consider adopting the strategy used during 2016/2017 that “we were almost celebrating the demise of Boko Haram so that we can deal with the insurgents once and for all.”

“One important thing that we have to do is to take the fight into their enclaves. The whereabouts of the Boko Haram is known to all of us. It is known to the people of Borno State; it is known to the military. It is known to all of us,” he noted.

In his remarks, the Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Hon Baba Jimi Benson, told the governor that they were in the state to commiserate with him and the people of Borno over the recent attack on Auno.

He added that the visit was also to assess the ongoing military operation and promised that the National Assembly would lend necessary support towards accelerating the defeat of the insurgents.