Boko Haram Has Mounted Roadblocks, Collect Levies From Citizens - Senate Charges Buhari To Sack Service Chiefs

The Senate on Tuesday again asked the President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the  service chiefs over their failure to secure Nigerians.

The upper chamber of the National Assembly, which said security situation had deteriorated to a level, where Boko Haram  mounted  roadblocks in some parts of Borno  State and collected levies from farmers, also asked the President to restructure the country’s security architecture.

Tuesday’s  call for the service chiefs’ removal was the third by the Senate.  The latest call  followed a motion by Senator Kashim Shettima on the recent killing of  rice farmers in Borno State by the Boko Haram  insurgents.

Since Saturday when the Boko Haram  insurgents killed no fewer than 43 rice farmers in the state, service chiefs have come under attack by Nigerians, who have demanded their removal.

On Tuesday,  the Senate again joined the  call for the removal of the service chiefs. The upper chamber of the National Assembly also  demanded a probe into the allegations of corruption  levelled against some military leaders.

The red chamber also stressed the need to urgently recruit 10, 000 personnel into the civilian joint task force because they would know  their areas.

Loss of lives too many, Lawan laments

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the session, lamented the recent killing.

Lawan said, “It is now important that the executive should implement the latest resolutions because they are not frivolous.

“Enough of excuses. ,Those who have nothing to offer in terms of securing the country, should be shown  the way out.  The security of Nigerians should take the centre stage. Time has come to find a  solution.”

In his contribution, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Opeyemi Bamidele, said if the President should retain the service chiefs, he should retire them and constitute them into a presidential advisory council on security.

In the motion, Shettima noted that if Buhari refused to sack the non-performing service chiefs, it then meant that he had also failed in his responsibilities as commander-in-chief.

“Whatever it is that the present security chiefs are doing, is not working or at least not enough.

“If the President insists that the security chiefs are doing their work well, then the logical implication of such assumption is that the President himself as the constitutional commander-in-chief of the country has failed in his most rudimentary assignment of securing the nation. I hope the latter is not the case.

“Protecting the lives and property of citizens is the primary obligation of government and any government that cannot discharge this basic obligation loses any iota of legitimacy.”

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army,  who is from Bornu State, Ali Ndume, said the military should justify funds released  to it because the soldiers at the war front were poorly kitted.

He said, “Soldiers at the forefront of the operations are sharing ammunition.  They are not well kitted. Some of them don’t even have helmets  or bulletproof vests.

“They don’t have new AK-47 rifles  at the war front. Insurgents have started demanding levies to allow farmers into farms.

“Boko Haram has started mounting roadblocks. If the Federal Government is serious, we could wipe out insurgency within six months.”