The Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who presided over the deliberations, expressed worry over the killing of the soldiers, noting that something must have gone wrong in Nigeria’s war against insurgency, especially considering that countries like Chad, Cameroon are securing their borders more effectively.
The lawmakers resolved that the probe, which is to be conducted by an ad hoc committee, should be constituted immediately to also look into the operational lapses that led to the killing of the soldiers by the insurgents.
The lawmakers also called on the military high command to release the names of fallen soldiers after due consultation with members of their families.
Dogara urged that there is urgent need to curb insecurity in the country, wondering whether or not the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), which comprises Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin Republics are still tackling the Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.
Abdu (Bauchi, APC) particularly called for the probe of the $1billion recently appropriated by the National Assembly to prosecute the Boko Haram insurgency.
Also contributing to the debate, Aliyu Magaji called for the immediate sack of the entire service chiefs, saying they have failed and wondered how long they would be there to be attending funeral services of soldiers.
Abdulsamad Dasuki, who chairs the House committee on Navy, claimed that the armed forces is not only technologically backward, it could only boast of about 200,000 soldiers, which he said is not enough to protect about 200 million Nigerians and its borders stretching from the Chad Basin to the Atlantic Ocean.
Dasuki, who also claimed that the service chiefs had failed to live up to expectations, insisted that Buhari has failed Nigerians on his promise to secure the country.
A ranking senator who spoke with THISDAY last night alleged that corruption among military high command might have compounded the security challenges in the North-east in the past few months.
He said in spite of the huge funds the present government had received to engage the terrorist group, it has not bought any ammunition in the last three years.
According to him, ‘’Our investigation has revealed that it was the several units of highly effective sophisticated weapons from Eastern Europe, which former President Goodluck Jonathan administration bought that the military is still using.
For instance, it was gathered that the former administration acquired 60 units of computerized T72 tanks, alongside 30 units of transports vehicles, which were said to have been deployed in various war fronts against the insurgents before now.
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