Senate faults FG’s amnesty for Boko Haram insurgents

By Tunde Opalana

The Senate on Wednesday faulted Federal Government’s policy of deradicalising, rehabilitating and reintegrating repentant Boko Haram members into Nigerian society.

This is as the legislature commended the government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) for prosecuting identified sponsors of Boko Haram insurgency activities in Nigeria who are based in the Arab country.

The upper chamber therefore charged the Buhari administration to be more determined and in fighting the insurgency war by being sincere in prosecuting arrested Boko Haram kingpins.

The lawmakers expressed dismay over the number of Nigerian communities currently under the siege of Boko Haram in some local government areas across the Northeast.

The Senate Committee on Army queried Federal Government sincerity in waging war against insurgency with meagre resources allocated to the Nigerian military, thereby incapacitating the gallant troops to prosecute the lingering war.

After an interaction with the leadership of the Nigeria Army led by Lt. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, Chief of Policy and Plans, over the 2021budget of the Army, the Committee chairman, Senator Ali Ndume charged government to bring to books perpetrators and sponsors of insurgency in the country.

Ndume said “we are still calling on the Nigerian government that those that are directly or indirectly involved in Boko Haram activities should be brought to book and used as an example.

I think we have not been up and doing on that. “I am in disagreement with the Government on the issue of deradicalising, rehabilitating and reintegrating Boko Haram repentants.

I still maintain that. You can’t be resettling people, pampering them while the war is on.

“Can you imagine that the Nigeria Army and the Nigerian Government that saying that it’s because these people have gone to repent and you are bringing them back and you pamper them.

“You can’t be pampering people while their victims are still there. Recounting an incident that happened in 2015, he said “in my own village, malams, elders that are 65 to 70 years, more than 75 of them were taken to an abattoir and slaughtered by Boko Haram.

“The recent attack in Damboa was carried out by a repentant Boko Haram giving information as in the movement of the Army.

The officer that was killed, Col. DC Bako, Commander 25 Task Force Brigade, Damboa, was a victim.

“They can’t be kept as prisoners of war. After that, you profile them and charge those that are supposed to be charged to court and those that are victims of Boko Haram that were forcefully conscripted should be released.

“If you give an IDP N150,000, I have 10,000 of them there. If you give each of them N50,000, they will go back home tomorrow.

They know these people that killed their people, it is wrong”. Commending the government of the UAE, the chairman 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 think so far, they have not been up and doing on that”. The Army Committee said the N27 billion capital allocation to the Nigeria Army is appalling and inadequate to prosecute its numerous tasks including tackling insurgency.

He said “just 83% of their personnel cost was released to them. Imagine people who are in the war front, trying to protect the country.

“Worst of it, 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% of that money was released.

“On top of that, the 50% was released in first week of July. The second batch of it was released this week and Nigeria is at war.

The whole of Nigeria Army budget is $1.3 billion. That is at the level of Niger, Chad and Sudan and other poor countries.

“In a period of war where the country is borrowing and is planning to spend N13 trillion, government is budgeting less than N30 billion as capital for the Nigerian army.

“What I see that is the difference between the Nigeria Army and the bandits is that the Nigerian Army is trained and they have uniform. Even the bandits, some of them take away the uniform from the Nigerian army or they buy it from the market.

“Some of the bandits have better AK-47. I think they have what they call AK-49,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 Nigeria 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 Nigeria Army’s have to be processed.

Before you even finish the process, it takes a long time”.