THE Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, has said curbing banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and secession would be difficult without the required weapons and other hardware.
He, therefore, urged the National Assembly members to, as a matter of urgency, consider these critical needs while appropriating funds.
The COAS, stated this on Wednesday when the Senate Committee on Army led by its Chairman, Senator Ali Ndume, visited the Army headquarters, Abuja, as part of oversight functions.
Attahiru stated, “To curb and finally defeat these threats, the Nigerian Army requires equipment, weapons, armour fighting vehicles, platforms and various combat enablers.
“As we all know, Nigeria is faced with a lot of security challenges that include insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West and part of North-Central as well as secessionist agitations in the South-East and South-South geo-political zones of the country.
“I urge you to, as a matter of urgency, consider these critical needs as you legislate and appropriate funds. I will be counting on your support, so that we can efficiently perform our constitutional roles and defeat all our threats.”
In his remarks, Ndume said the army had a daunting task of mitigating the various security challenges confronting the country, adding that the National Assembly played an important role in terms of giving the necessary legislative support to the military.
Insecurity: IGP laments inadequate resources
Meanwhile, the acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, on Wednesday met with the leadership of the House of Representatives, where he told the lawmakers that the Nigeria Police Force lacked adequate resources to face the emerging security challenges in the country.
Baba urged the House to create a special fund for police operations, which would allow the security outfit to respond to emergency needs.
Baba said, “In the area of funding, we are requiring and requesting your assistance to look more into our predicament. We are glaringly underfunded and there is nothing we can do without funds. I agree that you may not get what you want even in your house completely; you have to manage. We are managing what we have.”
Why Nigerians won’t respect policemen on Nigerian streets – Gbajabiamila
Responding during the meeting, Gbajabiamila told the IGP the various reasons why Nigerians would not respect police officers on the streets, stating that beyond allocating of more funds and recruiting more personnel, men of the Nigeria Police Force needed a psychological approach to their duties.
“We need to know that police work has a lot to do with psychology. Why are policemen looking tattered on the streets? They wear dirty, torn uniforms and you see them in rubber slippers. So, people don’t even respect them or feel intimidated by their presence when they need to enforce the law.
“In other countries, the sight of a policeman and the gadgets he carries alone prevent crime from happening. There is immediate recognition from the appearance of a policeman,” he said
Gbajabiamila assured the IG that the House was prepared to collaborate with the force to identify its areas of need and address them through improved funding, recruitment and training.
Copyright PUNCH.
