The Senate Wednesday called on the government to fish out sponsors of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria for immediate prosecution, and also kicked against amnesty for terrorists.
The call came just a few days after six Nigerians were jailed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for sponsoring Boko Haram.
The lawmakers also alleged a repentant insurgent provided information leading to the recent killing of an army officer in the ongoing insurgency war.
The positions of the upper legislative chamber were made known through its Committee on Army while briefing journalists after a budget defence session with the leadership of the Nigerian Army.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, its Chairman, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC Borno South), said the UAE did a good job jailing those sponsoring Boko Haram.
He said the pace of prosecution in Nigeria was too slow just as he declared that granting purported repentant Boko Haram terrorists amnesty may be counterproductive.
The lawmaker also alleged a repentant insurgent provided information leading to the ambush of an army Colonel D.C Bako.
Bako was killed September 21 by terrorists, near Damboa, a town about 85 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
The lawmaker said: “We are very grateful to the Government of UAE and we are still appealing to our government to bring those directly or indirectly involved in Boko Haram activities to book immediately.
“I am in disagreement with the government on the issue of de-radicalising and reintegrating (Boko Haram repentants). The position of the executive is different. I still maintain that.
You can’t be resettling people, pampering them while the war is on.
The committee is on the same page and I believe many Nigerians are on the same page with this.
“In my village, Mallams, not ordinary Muslims but mallams, elders above 60, 75 of them were taken to an abattoir and slaughtered by Boko Haram.
Can you imagine that the Nigerian Army or the Nigerian government is saying that because these people have gone to repent, or they say they have their hands up, you bring them back and pamper them.
“In addition to that, the recent attack in Damboa was carried out by a repentant giving information as to the movement of the army; the general that was killed was a victim.
“If you give IDPs here, N150, 000 as perk as they give them (Boko Haram repentants) I have 10,000 of them here…. they are displaced, suffering.
They know these people that killed their people, it is wrong.”
It will be recalled that recently, six Nigerians were jailed after a federal appeals court in the UAE upheld their convictions for funding Boko Haram.
The six were initially tried and convicted last year following their arrest in 2017.
The court sentenced Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and Saleh Yusuf Adamu to life in prison.
Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa were each given a ten-year sentence.
‘Bandits better armed than army’
While he decried the poor funding for the Nigerian Army, the lawmaker, according to Premiumtimes said bandits in the North-east are better equipped than the military personnel.
“The only difference between the Nigerian army and the bandits is that the Nigerian army is trained and they have uniforms.
Even that, some of the bandits take away the uniform from the Nigerian army or they buy it from the market,” he explained.
“Some of the bandits have better AK-47. I think they have what they call AK-49, the latest AK used by bandits and insurgents in the North-east and North-west. I want to use this opportunity to tell you the committee’s position that as a matter of urgency… the budget of the Nigerian Army should be increased.
“Not only that, we are advocating they should be front rolled, that means if they sign the budget, you give them so that they can start their procurement process because unlike other procurement that you can buy here, buy there, the Nigerian Army’s have to be processed.
Before you even finish the process, it takes a long time.”
On the army’s 2020 budget, the lawmaker said only 83 per cent of their personnel cost was released to them.
“…Imagine people who are on the war front, trying to protect the country.
Worst of all, their capital, I mean money that is supposed to be given to them to buy the necessary equipment, arms and ammunition, secure kitting for the armed forces, only 64 per cent of that money was released. Fifty per cent was released in the first week of July and the second batch of it was released this week and Nigeria is at war.”
When asked why the parliament has not increased the army’s budget since it has the power to do so, Mr Ndume said the three arms of government are supposed to work hand in hand.
“We have engaged the Nigerian Army and we are going to engage the executive to make them understand that based on what we oversight, they need to increase the budget of the Nigerian army.
“So far, we are on the same page with the executive.
We are going to work together and make them understand that there is a need. Some of them do these things and present it to Mr. President without him knowing the implications,” he said.
