From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has mandated the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Taoreed Lagbaja, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, as well as the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to deploy more security personnel to Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Martins Oke on the need to beef up security at Nimbo, Opanda and Ogboli in Uzo-Uwani, as result of persistent kidnappings and killings in the area.
The House, which observed a minute silence in honour of those who recently lost their lives, as a result of attacks in the area, charged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide displaced indigenes of the area with relief materials.
Oke, in his motion, informed the House that on April 28, Ugwuijoro Village, in community, was attacked by a group of gunmen “who sprayed bullets on the sleeping villagers, killing many people, including women and children. He expressed concern that criminal elements have been having a field day, kidnapping and killing the people, “despite the presence of three police divisions in the LGA, which have obviously been overstretched.”
Meanwhile, the member of the House representing Damboa/ Chibok Federal Constituency of Borno State, Ahmed Jaha, has said there was a need for the country to bring in mercenaries to help tackle the security challenges. Jaha, who spoke at yesterday’s plenary, expressed that despite the allocation of N19 trillion to the security sector between 2015 to 2023, the country is still bedeviled by serious security challenges.
He said: “We can bring in mercenaries. It was attempted during President Goodluck Jonathan, they were about to finish Boko Haram. The next president (Muhammadu Buhari) was convinced and he moved them out of the country and the insecurity kept on escalating to other parts of the country.
“Insofar as a substantial amount of money is not going to be allocated or will continue to be allocated to security agencies, insecurity will never come to an end in Nigeria. From 2015 to 2023, more than N19 trillion was allocated to security and security-related sectors in Nigeria.”