•Lack of political will hindering total action against insurgency —MBF

•No insurgency can be stronger than state —Ex- Abia speaker

•PDP asks Buhari to visit troubled areas

By Ozioruva Aliu, Peter Duru, Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo, Steve Oko and Ikechukwu Odu

FORMER Chief Whip of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Idada Ikponmwen (retd) and Brigadier General Idris Bello (retd), yesterday, backed former Minister of Internal Affairs, Major General Mohammed Magoro (retd) on his call on President Muhammadu Buhari, to as a former military Major General,  end the insecurity in the country in six months.

But another Brigadier General of 33 regular course of the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, disagreed.

Meanwhile,  Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has agreed with Magoro, saying the lack of political will on the part of the Federal Government was hindering a total action against insurgency in the country.

Also, former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Emeka Stanley, concurred with Magoro  that President Muhammadu Buhari, has all it takes to crush bandits terrorising parts of the country within six months.

Magoro had on Sunday said there was no reason the Federal Government should not end Boko Haram insurgency and banditry in six months.

Magoro said: “In 1983, during President Shehu Shagari’s time, rebels were terrorising our people on Nigerian Islands in Lake Chad.  Mr. President was the General Officer Commanding, GOC, 3 Armoured Division in Jos.

‘’At that time, he moved his headquarters to Maiduguri and dealt decisively with all those rebels, cleaned all the islands.  Today, he is not a General Officer Commanding, he is a Commander in Chief. We do not expect anything less from him.’’

Magoro’s right  —Ikponmwen

Reacting, Ikponmwen, who supported the call for fresh alliances with some countries to check insecurity in Nigeria, said: “Many of us who were in service at that time were witnesses to it.  I read the article by General Magoro, who I happened to know very well, he was my commander and a very respected senior officer. He has always been a man of action who doesn’t mince words.

“I share very seriously the views that he expressed even the confab of 2014, which I was a member. We raised this in the security committee which I was also a member, we raised the issue that the issue of Boko Haram could be addressed formidably and we said that there was no reason the government will recall some able bodied retired service men to join forces with the serving ones to positively address this problem, then the issue of banditry has not really come so seriously.

READ ALSO: Insecurity: ‘You can end Boko Haram, banditry in 6 months, Gen Magoro tells Buhari

“Gen Magoro made the point, he called for stronger ties with Russia, USA, with China and he justified the reason why this further alliances and realigning should take place. I strongly believe that the advice made to President Buhari is well and positive and I believe that it will help Nigeria overcome the very serious security problem that will assist Nigeria.”

On what would have slowed down Buhari, he said: “There are several reasons Buhari may not be the same Buhari we used to know. For instance, he is now operating under a purely political environment and influence of politicians is overwhelming on whoever the ruler of this country is, even though I am not justifying that because a man we voted for as president takes responsibility for everything but at the same time, some people wonder what is it that changes people when they get to Aso Rock. I don’t have the answer to that.  The hopes of Nigerians before 2015 has been dashed, the expectations have not been met.”

Brigadier General Bello (retd), supporting Magoro’s position, said:  “What Magoro said are good suggestions and if implemented, will bring an end to Boko Haram, banditry and other forms of criminality in the country.

“I also agree with him on recalling officers from the rank of Lieutenant to Brigadier, who were retired. Doing so and embarking on massive recruitment will go a long way in wiping out these criminal elements. I’ve been calling for this, in my media interviews.”

Meanwhile, another retired Brigadier General and member of 33 regular course in NDA, who spoke on condition of anonymity disagreed.

He said: “General Magoro is like a father to me. But after retirement, he was in the Senate and I think himself and late DIG Nuhu Aliyu, were in the Senate Committee of Intelligence and Security. Why didn’t he, Magoro give such advice then?

“Secondly, it will not be easy for the government to engage retired Lieutenants to Brigadier General as he advocated. Our military is not patterned like that of America, where they have reserves, who could easily be called upon in time of emergency. The Nigerian Army is patterned like that of Pakistan, modelled after the British. Here, it is retirement and not reserved. So, I wonder how, someone enjoying his retirement would be called upon to go back to the trenches again to fight guerilla warfare.

Gen Magoro is right — MBF

MBF’s National President, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, who to Vanguard in Makurdi, Benue State, said: “I recall that when the then President Goodluck Jonathan he gave directive to the Army Chief then to flush out Boko Haram, this President at that time said President Jonathan was killing his people.

“You can imagine that a statement like that was made at that time and now look at what is happening today. Our soldiers out there are not under instruction to kill these people. They stay at one place till Biko Haram or the bandits attack before they respond. That is not how to fight, you take the fight to the people.

“So, if the military is doing just that, it means they are doing what the Commander in Chief wants them to do. Just like Gen. Magoro said, if the military is given the free hand and necessary support, even the six months he talked about is too much, there will be no Boko Haram or bandits out there.

“Our military has the capacity but they are not given a free hand. All the political statements are made by the word of mouth and it ends there. The soldiers in the field are restricted, they are kept in locations and only guarding towns rather than going after Boko Haram or the bandits.

“Secondly, even when the Air Force is engaged, most a times they do not drop bombs, they only fly over. Which means they are restricted in what they do.

“The Tucano aircraft that the country battled to acquire have been here for some months and are not being deployed, why, because they do not want to kill their people.

“So, the problem is political will, with political will, this issue will end and Nigeria will be peaceful. But the people in power are sympathetic to those fighting us. “If the theatre commanders are giving free hand to operate and command all the forces, the Army, Air Force, the Police and paramilitary, honestly, they will be able to clean up the entire thing.

“As we talk, Boko Haram has been collecting toll on a road that I know, that is the Biu-Danboa Road. And there is no military presence there and nobody has gone after them and they do what they like there.

“Why has the military not gone there to dislodge them. I have also talked about the a farm which used to belong to one Mohammed Ali which is located in the South West of Sabongeri in Borno State, which has been evacuated. It has been taken over by Boko Haram and that is from where they launch attacks. Boko Haram has taken over that whole town and uses it as a territory to launch attacks. Nobody is going there to stop them.

“So, I support Gen. Magoro. What he said is correct and I believe it can even be done in a shorter period of time if we want to do that.

“On the issue of saboteurs in the fight, he is not far from the truth. There are obvious saboteurs in the fight, if not, how do you explain a situation where bandits and Boko Haram insurgents get information about the movement of our troops.

“How do they easily carry out attacks on our troops? They do that because information is leaked to them. So, the issue of saboteurs is obvious.”

No insurgency is stronger than state— Ex-Abia speaker

Emeka Stanley, said: “It is my honest believe that the Federal Government has not been sincere in the fight against terrorism.  One tenth of the devastation done by these bandits and terrorists has not been done by self determination agitators, yet when the terrorists are arrested, the same government releases them under the pretext that they have repented.

“Nigeria is suffering from what it created by itself. There are no thick forests in the North but these bandits have not been flushed out yet.

“Maybe, they are reluctant to deal decisively with them for the interest or agenda we do not know. The Federal Government has all it takes to crush the bandits but only God knows why it has lingered.”

PDP asks Buhari to visit troubled areas

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has asked the President to demonstrate leadership and empathy by personally visiting the troubled states.

PDP in a statement by its spokesperson, Debo Ologun-Agba, said: “Is it not unpardonable that while the APC had failed to show empathy on the murder of scores of travelers who were burnt alive in Sokoto state, the massacre of over 15 worshippers in Niger state, other compatriots felled in Kaduna, Katsina, and other parts of the country in the last few days, its leaders and officials in government had the time to attend the turbaning ceremony of President Buhari’s son in the same troubled Katsina State

“Nigerians can recall that despite demands by the PDP, the APC and its leaders have failed to account for the “political mercenaries” they reportedly imported from neighbouring countries as thugs, gangsters, and hoodlums to unleash violence on Nigerians during the 2019 elections. The APC has also not explained the continued presence of a self-confessed terrorism apologist in its government.”

The party urged the Buhari-led administration to develop a wholesome strategy to proactively tackle insecurity, including targeting the source of funds to terrorists, many of which were revealed by a foreign government.

The PDP commiserated with victims of the horrific attacks and urged Nigerians not to resign to despondency but continue to support one another and remain focused as we scale up our collective efforts to rescue and rebuild our nation.

VANGUARD NEWS NIGERIA