Senate c’ttee to army: Go after bandits, kidnappers

The Senate Committee on Army on Monday urged the military to go after kidnappers and bandits in different parts of the country.  It said military was overwhelmed, overstretched and no longer formidable.

The chairman of the committee, Ali Ndume, spoke while meeting with the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Usman Mohammed, during an oversight visit to various Army formations in Kaduna State.

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He said: “We insisted on this oversight visit for some reasons. The army is facing its own challenges. By our constitution, the army isn’t supposed to be involved in civil security. But we have security challenges across every part of the country. The army had to be drafted to provide internal security.

“The army is overwhelmed. Imagine they operate in about 33 to 34 states across Nigeria. They’re very overstretched. They don’t have the number. The army we used to know is very different from the army of today. But we are hoping that things will get better. As a country, we are known to have a formidable army. But these days, we are worried.”

Ndume said the Sunday’s killing and kidnapping along the Kaduna-Abuja Road was worrisome after it had experienced peace.

“The security situation is also alarming. Unfortunately, the army doesn’t have the number needed to provide security,” he said.

Responding, the GOC said only two persons were killed along Kaduna-Abuja road on Sunday contrary to media reports which put the casualty figure at 15.

He said the two victims were a driver and a woman.

He also said that nine persons kidnapped by the bandits were freed on Sunday by soldiers, who immediately swung into action as soon as the attack happened.

He, however, assured that more camps belonging to bandits will be located and destroyed in the coming days.

He said: “We’re not unmindful of the security challenges. Right now, we have three operations going. There is one along the Kaduna-Abuja road. We’re going after bandits during this Christmas period. We’ll flush them out. We’ve been seeing their recent hand along that road. We’ll keep doing our best.”

Meanwhile, an adhoc committee of the House of Representatives yesterday held a close-door meeting with heads of security agencies over national security breaches witnessed during the #EndSARS protests in many parts of Nigeria.