Member representing Chibok Federal Constituency of Borno State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Jaha on Tuesday underscored the need for Nigeria to solicit for international mercenaries from advanced nations in the bid to combat the insecurity situation once and for all.
Hon. Jaha gave the charge while contributing to a motion on urgent national importance sponsored by Hon. Ginger Onwusibe on the need to address the tragic death of a Nigerian – Mr. Richard.
The lawmakers hailed from the insurgency-prone Chibok Community where 276 secondary school girls were abducted by members of Boko Haram while writing their final year examination in 2014.
In his usual stance on issues bothering on insecurity, Hon. Jaha maintained that the use of competent international mercenaries should be looked into.
He said: “Distinguished Honourable Colleagues, riding on the position of the Minority Leader, Mr. Speaker, we have been saying on this floor of the House in as much as substantial amount of money is not going to be allocated or continue to be allocated to these security agencies, insecurity in Nigeria would not and never come to an end. ”
Mr. Speaker between 2015 to 2023, more N19 trillion was spent on security anf security related matters in Nigeria, whereas we have an alternative when we can bring in mercenaries.
“It was attempted during President Goodluck Jonathan, they were about to finish Boko Haram and later on the new president was convinced and moved them from out of the country and insecurity keep on escalating in Northern Nigeria, particularly in northern central of the country and to the North West. “Only God knows where it will spread to in the next few years, God forbid.
“Mr. Speaker, as you said we are going to have a Summit. “This House must have a position paper, particularly in the insecurity-prone areas, on the issue of bringing back mercenaries to finish insecurity issues in this country so that investors can come in and invest; people can have time to go to their farms,” Hon. Jaha noted.
While leading the motion, Hon. Onwusibe alleged that late Mr. Richard who was a loyal civil servant in Abia State, lost his life due to brutal torture in the hands of five Naval Officers.
He stated that this act violated the fundamental human rights of the deceased, it’s an act of breach of law and tarnishing the image of the Nigerian Navy.
He stated that this act demands justice to ensure it doesn’t happen again and that the Nigerian Navy should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the event with a view to bring the culprits to book. Hon. Ginger therefore called on the relevant Committees of the House to ensure compliance.
In his intervention, Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda expressed concern that all the motions on the floor of the House bothered on lack of security and the current one shows the inappropriate attitude by Navy Personnel.
While calling for a deeper investigation by the House itself, the Minority Leader also tasked the House to look at all resolutions on insecurity matters and ensure their due enforcement in order to bring relief to the affected communities in Nigeria.
The motion was voted on, adopted as amended and referred to the House Committee on Navy for further legislative action.
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