Pascal Arogorn Ibe
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has said the Federal Government should consider recalling all ex-servicemen and women to help in the fight against insurgents.
Atiku, who decried the security situation in the country, noted that terrorists that were confined in the North East, have spread into far flung areas as far as Niger State in the North-Central.
“Nowhere seems to be safe. Farms, markets, schools, homes, mosques, churches, and urban areas are all affected,” he regretted.
He added that as former vice chairman of the National Security Council, he is aware that Nigeria has a sizeable population of military veterans, who are alive, and well trained locally and internationally.
Atiku said it serves no purpose to allow these valuable national assets lie fallow when there is an existential threat to our nation.
“Now is the time for decisive leadership,” Atiku said, adding that the time has come to stamp out this menace from the country.
“The men and women of Nigeria’s armed forces, whether serving or retired, who restored peace to Lebanon, Liberia, Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe can, and should be used to do the same in the motherland.
“But they need arms and ammunition. It is incumbent on the Federal Government to develop a more efficient means of sourcing for weapons and delivering them to the troops at the battlefront.
“A situation where terrorists and criminals are better armed than our troops on the battlefront is intolerable,” he said.
The former vice president called on the private sector to join the government in improving the conditions of service of the men and women of the armed forces.
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