By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume, has accused the Southern Governors Forum of engaging in blame game by calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to address security lapses in the country.
The senator, who spoke on Wednesday, also faulted the ban on open grazing by the governors.
He said that the governors deviated from the real issues.
Ndume, who made these assertions in Abuja, said that governors as chief security officers of their respective states ought to know what to do to stem the growing tide of insecurity across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
His words: “As far as I am concerned, this blame game will not solve the problem. Governors are the Chief Security Officers of their states, so, why are they talking about the President without talking about themselves?
“The governors are deviating from the matter. The problem is not about open grazing. The problem is security. Most of the security problems confronting Nigeria are not in the bush.
“We have four different types of security challenges. We have the insurgency in the North East, IPOB, through the Eastern Security Network, is creating insecurity in the South East. There is banditry in the North-West.
“It is only in the North Central that we have issues of farmers-herders clashes. There are fewer problems in the South-West except for the clashes between the herdsmen and the farmers, and the agitators for the Yoruba nation.
“Similarly, in the South-South, they are trying to instigate the Avengers but so far the area is peaceful.
“The issue of insecurity is unique to each zone. President Buhari has taken charge of the security personally now.
“It used to be the Chief of Staff or the Minister of Defence who was having meetings with the Service Chiefs but today, the President has taken charge of the problem.
“That is a good development and I hope we would start seeing results but the most important thing is for them to be provided with necessary equipment to prosecute the war and their allowances should be paid in time.”
The Borno South lawmaker also commended the military for stopping Boko Haram insurgents from infiltrating Maiduguri on Tuesday night.
He said: “I commend the armed forces operating in Maiduguri for their gallant response to the attack by the Boko Haram.
“On Tuesday evening, around 6pm, a group of Boko Haram insurgents wanted to infiltrate Maiduguri but the armed forces responded swiftly and repelled the insurgents.
“I understand that most of the insurgents were killed. The Army, Airforce, Police and the Civilian JTF, played a very significant role in repelling the insurgents.
“If such reaction from the armed forces is sustained, the insurgents would be repelled whenever they surface anywhere in the North -East. We pray that this month of Ramadan will bring peace to our country.”
