Living In Maiduguri Safer For Me Than Abuja— Ali Ndume

According to Channels TV, Senator Ali Ndume, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, has stated that living in the terrorism-plagued city of Maiduguri is safer for him than residing in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

On Thursday, Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, announced this on Channels Television’s Politics Today show.

The Senator said the insurgents have been persistently repealed from the city by the security agents but only attack soft targets in other areas of Borno State.

“I live in Abuja and also live in Maiduguri. Once I come to Maiduguri, I feel safer than in Abuja, because somebody can knock down your door with a gun. In Maiduguri, we don’t hear of that.

“It is outside Maiduguri where the insurgents are marauding around and attack intermittently. And that’s normal with insurgents, that’s why they are called insurgents, they do hit and run on soft targets,” Ndume said.

He stated that, “In every society, you can’t wipe out criminality completely. In America, there is school shooting. Our own is that we have known terrorists and the army is fighting them.”

With President Muhammadu Buhari’s dedication to the welfare of the fighting troops, the situation appears to be improving, according to the Borno senator, who has consistently urged for additional financing for the army. He also hailed President Buhari’s visit to Borno State as a gesture that would boost Nigerian soldiers’ confidence.

“With the new budget, things will soon change,” he said. “The President went round for six hours – I was tired. He came in 10 o’clock and we were going to see various projects until four o’clock this evening before he left.”

President Buhari’s welfare initiatives for the state, including the decision to build 10,000 dwellings for displaced people and the supply of money for a power plant, were also praised by the former Senate Majority Leader.

However, he urged the Nigerian government to expedite the implementation of its plans and programs for funding army operations, particularly the acquisition of advanced combat equipment.

“We should now walk the talk by accelerating the release of funds on time,” Senator Ndume said. “The army now has the numbers.”

Ndume acknowledged the gloomy operations of the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) fighters in command of terrorism in Nigeria, but said that they do not attack innocent citizens unnecessarily.

“ISWAP is more deadly, more sophisticated, have an international connection, access to military armament and the likes, but the other side of them is that they don’t kill civilians indiscriminately like the Boko Haram and in fact that was what ignited the fight between the ISWAP and the Shekau group.

“Now the Shekau group has been virtually eliminated, it means that our Nigerian troops are going to face what they know specifically.

“What was frustrating them most was the indiscriminate killing of civilians and other soft targets, destruction of public property by the Boko Haram.

“But now that the ISWAP is saying we are just going after the military or the armed forces or the security agencies. Our security agencies are up to the task; our security agencies are up to the task and ready for them. They have engaged themselves and (ISWAP) have suffered serious casualties,” Ndume said.