In his reaction to the Armed Banditry attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) , Kaduna on Tuesday, the Chairman , Senate Commitee on Army , Senator Ali Ndume , has called on the Military to expose activities of moles within its fold .
Ndume who gave the admonition in Abuja Thursday while fielding questions from journalists , also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to step up his communication channels with Nigerians on ranging issues in the land by addressing them directly and not through press statements all the time .
He said the attack on NDA by the unknown gunmen is aimed at discrediting the success made so far by the Military on war against Insurgency , Armed banditry and other forms of Criminalities.
“It is the responsibility of the military personnel at this stage to keep watch over one another and expose the activities of the moles among them who could have sympathy for the insurgents and prevent the unpatriotic insiders from giving out information that could sabotage the good works the Nigerian military is doing to end terror, banditry and other criminal activities in the country.
“Those who are making allegations that the sponsors of Boko Haram should come out and give out specific facts to the security agencies so that the alleged sponsors could be arrested, questioned and prosecuted if any wrong doing is established against them.
“The institutions of government are there and they are willing to listen and act appropriately. Anybody who is sure of himself and armed with proven information or intelligence, should bring it out.
“I am just being worried that the President is not talking to Nigerians. In a situation like this, silence is not golden. If the US President could be addressing Americans every day on the issue in Afghanistan, I also expect President Muhammadu Buhari, to be addressing Nigerians either daily, weekly or fortnightly on the security situations across Nigeria.
“The usual statements from his media aides is not the solution. The President should create a situation room to brief Nigerians on the current situation and what his government is doing about it. Such action would allay the fears of the people.
” It is not enough to provide the security agencies with everything they need to prosecute the war, the President should take charge. He should also cultivate the habit of visiting places where incidents happen to physically assess the situation on ground”, he said .
He however commended the military for the successes recorded so far in the war against insurgency in the land which according to him , is not as potent as it was years back .
His words : ” At the peak of the insurgency, the Boko Haram terrorists had audacity in the past to take their fight to the military formations and barracks and the soldiers had to withdraw from those areas and up till now, some of those military barracks had yet to be recovered or rebuilt.
“The attack on the NDA is therefore not the first, second or third time that the criminals would attack a military formation, however, this is the only time that the bandits have the audacity to take their fight to a military training institution.
“This is very unfortunate because they were so daring. I still believe that the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces have well trained personnel who had done well in international engagements. So they have the capacity just that they are overwhelmed because they are facing many challenges from different fronts.
“I have the confidence that before the end of the week, the military will take a decisive action because I know I know that that the commandant of the NDA, being a gallant soldier had embarked on a massive manhunt that would yield results”
He debunked the insinuation being made by some Nigerians that repentant Boko Haram terrorists are being recruited into the military .
“It is not true that the repentant terrorists are being recruited into the military. The best the military could get from them is information. The Nigerian Army cannot even do that without following a laid down process of recruitment.
“It is also not true that the Department of State Service is granting amnesty to repentant Boko Haram commanders and giving them financial empowerment. The DSS cannot do that because it doesn’t have the mandate to carry out such task.
“Even the President cannot grant such amnesty without the involvement of the National Assembly. The DSS cannot do such thing in secret.
” They are first of all being handled by the military as prisoners of war. They are now being thoroughly interrogated to ascertain their levels of involvement.
“This would enable the military and the government to determine those that would be prosecuted and those that could be reintegrated into the society.
“There is a military facility meant for the accommodation, profiling, and prosecution of repentant Boko Haram because there are judges there who have had even sentenced some of the repentant terrorists to prison”, he explained.
