Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume has declared that the military and Civilian JTF are ill-equipped to eliminate the remaining Boko Haram insurgents who operate in Borno State.
He therefore called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to temporarily hire the services of “military contractors” to wipe out the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists in the state.
While praising the gallant performance of the military and Civilian JTF, Ndume said “all across the world, governments hire the services of military contractors to engage in certain places. Tinubu can consider this as a short measure. These contractors will work with our military and Civilian JTF, who understand the terrain.”
“These contractors will come with their equipment and military hardware. In a very short time, they’ll eliminate those Boko Haram terrorists. The contractors can also be used to eliminate those bandits operating in the North West.
“Over a period, the Federal Government can recruit youths to join the military and raise the number to at least one million. But in the interim, I think the President should consider this option of hiring military contractors,” Ndume said in a statement.
It would be recalled that insurgents invaded Ngoshe, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno, and slaughtered six farmers and abducted five others including women.
The councilor representing Ngoshe ward, Filibus Yakubu, said many residents were still missing from the attack, adding that the terrorists who struck on Monday also killed the commander of Civilian JTF in the area, Jubril Dada Zarana.
Yakubu said the military couldn’t repel the attackers despite their effort, adding that the terrorists ambushed the farmers while they were busy with their farming activities.
He said “security agents (Army and CJTF) tried their best to protect the people, but they could not hold them for long.”
The statement reads in part, “The Boko Haram terrorists released three women from which this information was obtained. The released women further stated that some victims were being kept hostage by the terrorists
“It is an Independence Day, a day of celebration of freedom, human rights, progress, and unity. But for our people, it is a day of sorrow, despair, infringement, destitution, helplessness, and total dilemma.
“Our people are severely suffering due to lack of essential life support, but they have chosen to remain in their fatherland because of the love they have for it. The State Government has really tried for our people, but NGOs and others are not providing us with food supplies.
“The little farming of which they have hope for survival, they have to put their lives along the line in order to harvest what they have planted.
The latest attack is coming just a few weeks after some terrorists killed many civilians in a bomb blast. Hundreds of other civilians were also reportedly injured.
“People of Ngoshe and the neighbouring villages (Gava, Agapalawa, Amuda, Chinene, Chikide, Dhugwade, Kwadale, Bokko, Barawa, Kughum, etc) only God can come to our aid. Part of the people of the aforementioned villages are currently living in Ngoshe.”
Umoru Faruk Salifu
