The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has called on communities and political leaders in the North East to support the military and other security agencies in the ongoing war against insurgency.
Ndume made the call in an interview with newsmen during a visit to the Special Army Super Camp in Faskari, Katsina State on Saturday.
Ndume and his House of Representatives counterpart, Abdulrazak Namdas, paid a visit to the camp to ascertain the level of success of the recently launched Operation Sahel Sanity in the fight against banditry.
He said communities and the political class had failed to provide the needed support to the military and other security agencies to end the war against insurgency in the region.
According to him: “The fight against this Boko Haram is a notorious one and it is an unconventional war and normally in wars like this where you have people believing ideology, their resilience is very high.
“There is need to get the people to realise that this is not an army war, this is not a North East war, but a Nigerian war and everybody has to play his part.
“The role of the political class is what is lagging behind and you cannot be expecting somebody to play his role while you are not playing your role.
“As politicians, I think we are far behind in terms of that because the political class have almost like demobilised themselves and everybody with their families to Abuja and you find the operation left only to the Nigerian army and security agencies especially this kind of war that involves terrorism.
“I have been saying that the remnants of Boko Haram are in the areas where the community is complacent because nobody can come to attack a village without an insider.
“It is the responsibility of the community to collaborate with the security agencies.
“I have called on our people several times to provide the information, collaborate very well and to take the war as their own.”
Ndume said the Nigerian army had succeeded in degrading insurgency to the barest minimum, adding that efforts were being made to bring the war to an end.
He disclosed that he was able to celebrate this year’s Sallah in his home town in Gwoza, Borno State after 10 years, adding that the military presence had given them sense of safety and comfort in recent time.
According to him: “This is an internal security that army has no business with.
“It is because we are desperate and the police system has almost collapsed that we pulled in the army.
“Army has no business fighting bandits, insurgents and all that.
“It is supposed to be police work.
“So far, they have done well and they have even gone far into improvising certain things that are supposed to be given to them like the MRAP and many other things.
“This is even the second model of MRAP that they have even produced.”
The senator also called on the international community to support the country instead of playing politics with it.
Ndume added that the Nigerian government should be allowed to solve the problem and be given the necessary cooperation.
According to him: “You can’t be talking of human right on this side and then the other side you are calling and branding some people terrorists and you are talking to them and even rendering them assistance.
“It can be frustrating, but I trust and believe in the Nigerian Army because they fought the civil war successfully and they went out to do international engagement and they are rated as one of the best.
“Now they are facing this unconventional and abnormal war so to say and they are working on it and they will get to the end of it soon.”
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