Senator Ali Ndume, representing the Southern Borno district, has claimed that the Nigerian government could end banditry and address terror groups within six months if it got serious.

He made this remark on Sunday during an interaction with journalists at the recently concluded 10th Senate retreat on the review of the 1999 constitution in Kano.

As quoted by Daily Trust, Ndume said that insurgents like the Boko Haram, Bandits, IPOB or kidnappers could be addressed between six months and a year if the government were serious about eradicating them.

Ndume expressed concern over the lack of modern weaponry in the hands of soldiers stationed in troubled regions, stating that the more sophisticated guns, such as the AK-47 and AK-49, are mainly seen in Abuja, escorting high-ranking officials instead.

“We fundamentally have three challenges in the country, Boko Haram, bandits or kidnapping and IPOB. All these three, interacting with all security agencies, if the government is very serious about this, it can be addressed in six months and at most one year,” Ndume said.

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“These bandits are not trained and not equipped. Most of the equipment they use is delivered to them or taken over from our armed forces. In today’s technology, with advancement in ICT, if they can trace where an individual or politically exposed persons effectively are, what stops you from tracing where Turji or other criminals are? So there is something fundamentally wrong there.”

Ndume, a member of the legislative arm of the federal government, said that the armed forces were understaffed.

He said that he was happy Taoreed Lagbaja, Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, recently shared the military’s struggle with meagre resources. For the senator, tasking the current population of existing security agencies with securing 230 million people is unrealistic.

He suggested recruiting more people into the Nigerian Army. He also referred to former president Goodluck Jonathan’s previous efforts in fighting insurgents.

“I have been advocating for one thing. Boko Haram reached its last peak in 2014, during the last days of Jonathan and somebody advised him to engage Private Military Consultants (PMC) from South Africa and they entered an agreement with them. They said they should give them two or three months to flush Boko Haram out and they did,” Ndume said.

“When the consultants came, they were 14. They collaborated with the Nigerian armed forces and recruited from the youths, the civilian JTF who knew the bad guys and went after them to pick them up. And that was when you heard Boko Haram ran away from Maiduguri. Otherwise, there were some areas that in the afternoon you dare not go there. But Alhamdulillah, it has gone down in Maiduguri to three spots, Lake Chad region, Mandara mountain and Sambisa. So operating in those areas, if you have men on the ground, drones, Boko Haram will be history.

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“These bandits go to the extent of recording themselves and broadcasting it, yet all the service chiefs and ministers were in Sokoto, and could not get Turji.

“The Nigerian army is known for their agility, professionalism, competence and commitment but once you don’t have enough personnel, better training, equipment, arms and ammunition, there will be no result and no magic. If you give them (Service Chiefs) what it takes and give them a deadline, they will achieve it, especially when you give them the special forces and give the PMC the contract.

“You have the terrorists, Boko Haram having the more sophisticated arms, and I go round and I observe I have not yet seen a Nigerian Army in any formation having enough number of new AK 47 not to talk of AK 49. The only time I saw new AK 47 and AK 49 is in Abuja whether in presidency or escorting a General at the front. Let us be serious. Let us concentrate on the security and welfare of the citizens. Let us not treat our problems superficially by pretending. There is hunger in the land. We have not cultivated 5% of our land in Nigeria.”
The post ‘FG Can Stop Terrorists in 6 Months If We’re Serious’ — Ndume appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.