Delegates condemn insurgency, call for closure of borders

Delegates at the National Conference have condemned the growing spate of insurgency in the country and called on the Federal Government to close Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The delegates, who spoke on Tuesday at plenary, opined that closure of the borders would help to curb the alarming rate of insurgency in the North East and other parts of the country.
Retired General Tanko Ayuba, representing the North West, said that a lot of harm and damage had been done to the country, especially the North East.
Ayuba said that increasing rate of insurgency being witnessed in the country was an indication of failure of government, the armed forces and intelligence agencies.
He suggested that the country’s borders with Cameroon, Niger and Chad should be closed to curtail the menace.
“We should also deploy technology, especially surveillance system, to monitor activities at our borders,” he said.
Another delegate, retired Colonel Bala Mande, from the North West, said that the insecurity situation in the country was an indication that Nigeria was under war, weather it was declared or not.
“In North Eastern Nigeria, the terrorists move in convoy and one is tempted to ask where are the road blocks and check points,” Mande asked.
In his contribution, retired Justice Usman Mohammed, an elder statesman, stressed the need to increase the number of security personnel to curtail the security challenges.
Mohammed said that the number of military and the police officers deployed to fight the insurgents were too few to cover the areas where terrorists’ acts were being perpetrated.
He said: “You may have a group of terrorists operating in an area for 10 hours and nobody would come in the aid of the people because the commander of the area said he did not have enough personnel to go round.
“We are at war.
“If our country is at war, what we should do is to train people to join the army and the police.
“The number of policemen is too few.”
Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, a delegate representing Muslim Leaders, said there was need to investigate reasons for the insurgency before jumping into conclusion
“I believe we are playing with fire if we politicise issues of security,” Oloyede said.
Ebele Okeke, representing retired civil servants, suggested that the leadership of the conference and those of various groups with at least five women should be sent to visit the victims of Abuja bomb blast in hospital.
Okeke urged the delegates to pray for the female students that were abducted on Monday night at the Girls’ Secondary School, Chikbok in Borno State.
Many delegates at the National Conference on Tuesday dressed in black attire as mark of grief for Abuja bomb blast victims, which killed 72 and injured more than 100 people.
Women wore black attires, while their men counterparts wore black aprons on their dresses.
Shortly after reconvening from adjournment, delegates again debated on the Monday bomb blast.
The women delegates, whom Deputy Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, gave attention to speak, drew the conference’s attention to the reported abduction of about 200 boarding school girls in Chibok, Borno.
The school girls, aged between nine and 12, were allegedly abducted by unknown bandits who drove in a motorcade of trucks and buses and invaded the school.
Aisha Ismail, a delegate, condemned in strong terms the abduction of the innocent children, as various suggestions were offered by other delegates on what should be done about the current security challenge.
Fati Ibrahim (North West) said: “The women delegates, who are mothers and wives, are in a situation of grief.
“Today is not a day of laughing or smiling because we are all bereaved and so we are mourning and that’s why we are in black.
“We have not gotten over what happened yesterday.
“This is another one (abduction of female students) happening today.
“Mr. Chairman, I’m so worried about those girls that have been abducted because we have had cases where women were raped.
“Some of the security agencies have given reports in the past that some of these girls kidnapped in the past were raped.
“Our hearts are bleeding today.”
In her contributions, Mosunmola Umoru (Youth) said the abducted girls would go through unimaginable pains and trauma, adding that the implication was grave on the country.
Umoru queried what the funds budgeted for security had been used for and called for accountability by security agencies.
Chief Annkio Briggs, who said: “I speak as a mother, I speak as a woman,” cautioned against bringing religion or ethnicity into the killing issue.
Briggs said the Monday bombing at Nyanya Motor Park in Abuja did not differentiate between Muslims and Christians or among Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
“This is no longer about politics, it is about the security of the country,” she stressed.
Ramatu Usman, representing women, said elders should be able to identify those actually perpetrating the ugly incident.
Usman said: “If it was possible to identify those behind the Maitasine sect, the Niger Delta militancy and the OPC, Boko Haram members could also be identified.”