The Senate on Tuesday lamented the deteriorating security situation in the country, noting that it now calls for declaration of total war against the Boko Haram insurgents.
Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba and 107 Senators had sponsored a motion over the abduction of 234 students of Government Girls’ College, Chibok in Borno State and the Nyanya bomb blast that claimed over 75 lives.
Consequently, the Senate unanimously condemned the abduction of the girls and called on the federal government to declare a total war on members of the Boko Haram sect.
Speaking earlier, Senate President David Mark had insisted there should be no sacred cow in the Federal Government’s fight against terrorism, adding that the nation is at war.
According to him, “There is no doubt that our nation is at war. The enemy has clearly and unequivocally served the nation notice of its vile intentions.
“Therefore, a clear, unambiguous and decisive military response from the Government, beyond the imposition of a state of emergency, is urgently required in this circumstance. This is an option we must consider now.
“It is obvious that we are dealing with insurgents and well funded nihilists who are determined to violently trample upon the secularity of the Nigerian State and destroy the country.
“A modern, vibrant, progressive, multi-ethnic, multi-religious Nigeria is an anathema to them. Because they are fired by zealot and extremism, they are not likely to be swayed by overtures of any kind. We must henceforth shift from fighting terrorism to fighting insurgency”.
Mark spoke further, “I had a 30 minutes chat with the traditional ruler in Chibok yesterday and the briefing he gave to me is identical with the submission of Senator Zana and the other people from Borno State.
“I have spent many years in the Senate here and I’m not sure there is any motion that has had so much emotional touch as this one.
“I think Ndume just managed to hold himself and the three Senators who spoke also. I think the issue is not so much as to whether Boko Haram is even in the country now or not but 234 girls can disappear and up till now none has been rescued, the 53 who are back escaped on their own.
“The story that Ndume narrated about soldiers going in the wrong direction when they got the information is a clear indication of what we are in for.
“The people we are dealing with are well trained. There are not terrorists, they are insurgents. All along we have been reactive; if we are not proactive we cannot deal with it.
“I have been in the fore front of saying we must dialogue with them but I think we must take the battle to a level where they also must beg for dialogue.
“We cannot do this unless the locals on group there corporate with the members of the armed forces”.
Contributing to the motion, Ahmed Zana representing Borno Central disclosed that the girls have been forcefully married by the insurgents who are currently residing in some of the 40 islands in Borno.
Zana said: “I have been constantly in touch with the security agencies, telling them the developments, the movement of the girls from one place to the other and then the splitting of the girls and eventually the marriage of these girls by the insurgents.
“What bothers me most is that whenever I inform where these girls are, after two to three days, they will be moved from that place to another and still, I will go back and inform them that see, this is what is happening.
“But, I lost hope two days ago when I found out that some of them were moved to Chad and Cameroon. Actually, some of them moved through the Mandara Mountain that is in Gwoza and some of them are just a stone throw from their barracks, even now as I am talking to you, in Cameroon because it is in Kolofata, which is in Cameroon about 15 kilometer or even less to the borders.
“One of the insurgents called somebody in Bama and said I just got married and said I am now settling in Kolofata and then three or four days ago, some Fulani men reported that they saw some girls being taken by boats into the island in Lake Chad and that some of them happened to be between Marte and Mungonu, maybe.”
Also, contributing to the motion, another Senator from Borno, Ali Ndume, had this to say “The commanders had alleged that their allowances were not been paid and that the number of soldiers are inadequate.
“There is no new equipment, all of them are old. The other time we went there, one of the armoured tanks broke down and we had to tow it with another vehicle”, he said.
The Senate called on the federal government to seek the assistance of United Nations Security Council and other international organisations that could be of help to Nigeria.
