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Boko Haram: Military killing innocent youths in Borno –Rep |
How would you react to the rising cases of piracy in the Nigerian waters ?
I don’t think the security is doing enough. Each time we go on oversight to NIMASA, the DG keeps promising and telling us that they are tackling the piracy issue. About two years ago we had a marine workshop, the DG stood before Mr President and said that piracy and oil theft would end in 30 days. It is two years since after the promise but nothing has happened. I don’t think the security is doing enough. There was a time we went on oversight at NIMASA and we were taken to Dockyard, they asked us to go on the sea and look at the ship that the security arrested in connection with piracy, we told them that there was no point. The security has the capacity to stop the crime, it can stop oil theft if it does its work well.
Would you say that the whole truth is not being told by government and security officials as to why oil theft and piracy have persisted ?
I will dispute with anybody who holds the opinion that the whole truth has been told regarding the matter. I say this because what they tell our committee is different from what they are doing and what the public is seeing. On this oil theft issue, I am a member of the Upstream committee, each time the minister of petroleum is invited, we keep asking about oil theft and she keeps promising that they would soon bring it to an end. She would tell us that they are dong this and that but the problem is not stopping. For years Nigerians are not seeing any positive side of these promises.
Do you suspect the involvement of security agents and powerful individuals in oil theft?
I don’t know and I can’t say what I do not know. I have not caught anybody and I have not been told of the involvement of any of the people you asked about.
How has the insurgency in Borno affected your representation of your constituency?
It has been a gory experience. But I sincerely thank God for everything. With all the insecurity in the state, I am still executing my constituency projects and taking care of my people. Even though I do not go there as regularly as I would have loved, I have people that are working for me and they are doing their best. A lot of my constituents have been thanking and blessing me for what I have been doing for them even in the face of the situation we have found ourselves.
Borno used to be the home of peace, every Nigerian is aware of that. But in the past few years, residents of the state have been going through serious security challenges. It is difficult to fathom why it is so and why the solution to the problem is yet to come. Severally, one has asked some rhetorical questions like, where is this coming from? Why is this happening? Why is the solution seeming to be far-fetched? We have been under state of emergency in the past six or more months but as far as I am concerned, that has not achieved much.
When the Chief of Defence Staff came to the chamber seeking for an additional six months, I asked him to tell us what he achieved in the last six months that deserved seeking for another six months. He couldn’t give us a convincing answer but still had to approve the additional six months. The security operatives are working but the truth is that their efforts are yet to address the problem. Our innocent people are dying everyday, our youths are being killed everyday.
Would you say the emergency rule is a failure in Borno?
No, no I can’t say that, it is not a failure. I am saying that it has not achieved the purpose for which it was declared. We have a relative peace. Our youths that we call Civilian JTF have done very well. These young people, on their own , came together and decided to dare Boko Haram members. God was on their side and they succeeded in chasing away these people. They have been doing a lot, assisting security agents in tackling the menace.
How do you place claims in some circles that some members of the elite in the state, especially the political class, are secretly sponsoring the insurgency?
No, that is not true. Those who make these claims don’t have evidence. It is totally false. As an indigene, you can never watch your people being killed in such a manner that we are witnessing in the state.
Why do you think the return of the former governor, Ali-Modu Sheriff to Maiduguri elicited violent reaction especially from the youths that you are praising?
What happened was all politics. He has not been to Maiduguri for a long period of time and you expect what happened. It was all politics. I don’t think it will be fair to link it to what is happening in the state, that is the insurgency. There is no way anybody who is a leader would accept that his people be killed everyday.
Would you say the government has taken your earlier recommendation on what should be done for the Civilian JTF?
What we advised the government to do is to take care of the Civilian JTF. These are young men that do not have jobs, most of them are graduates. They staked their comfort and security for the sake of the state. The governor has listened to our advice and he has done what we asked him to do. We asked him to send them on training, that he should reform them. They have been trained and kitted and they are being paid monthly. With that, they are engaged. They will not be tools in the hands of unscrupulous people.
What is your reaction to recent declaration by INEC that election might not hold in your state and other states where insurgency is rooted?
Any place that is facing such quantum of security challenge, how do you expect election to hold there? What we are praying for is that the whole thing should be addressed within the second phase of the emergency rule which is ending in April. I hope that peace would be restored to Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. If that is achieved, we will do our campaigns and elections will hold in these states like other parts of Nigeria.
What do you make of the promise of the new CDS that Boko Haram will be a thing of the past before April?
Don’t mind him. He has recanted, he has since denied saying so. I was disappointed when I heard him saying that. My disappointment was because this man has just been appointed, he has not gone around to look at the situation on ground before making a promise. Thank God he denied it. He ought to go to Borno, spend a week there, take a look at what the real situation is, go to other states involved before coming out to speak on what the public should expect. To me, killing is not the solution to the crisis.
How do you think it should be handled?
It is purely an intelligence thing. You cannot just be killing anybody you see. Security operatives must rely on intelligence rather than killing people indiscriminately. We lost thousands of youths in the state. Go to our rural areas, the suburbs, several innocent people are being killed. The new CDS must devise a better way of tackling the menace, he must rely on intelligence. If they have been killing only Boko Haram members, I think by now we will not be having insurgency in the state.
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