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| House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila |
House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila and the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, have expressed concern that foreign powers are fueling insurgency in Nigeria.
They expressed the fear on Wednesday after meeting with Security Chiefs.
Gbajabiamila, who urged the Service Chiefs to redouble their efforts in the anti-insurgency fight by taking the battle to criminals in their hideout, confirmed that the conspiracy theory was discussed.
He was echoed by Benson, who briefed reporters after he and his colleagues chairing the committees on Army, Navy, National Intelligence and Air Force met the Service Chiefs.
When asked to react to the allegation that some foreign powers were arming insurgents in a bid to destabilise the country, Gbajabiamila replied: โYes, like I said, that is part of the things we discussed. There could be some truth in that.
โMilitary issues are not things we should discuss in public, but they (military chiefs) raised a lot of issues that we must all sit down as Nigerians and discuss.
โOne of them is that there is probably an international dimension to what we see. There is ISIS, there is ISWAP. These are things that we need to discuss in a very classified manner.
โBut, what we want Nigerians to know is that we are committed to them 100 per cent, to see that we assist the military and the Armed Forces and ensuring that this matter is put to an end within the shortest possible time.โ
Urging the military chiefs to think outside the box and come up with practical and effectively ways of curbing the killings and other crimes, the Speaker urged them to act quickly because Nigerians were anxious to see peace.
Explaining what informed House call for the sack of the Service Chiefs a week ago, he said: โIt was a natural that we reacted the way we did because back home, our constituents are on our necks because they are dying callously every day in ways that you will begin to wonder if there is no security.
โThis is one of those meetings or engagements which, like I said, is going to be continuous. It will be to find out exactly what is going on, what the issues are and what the problems are. I hope to get some commitments from you.
โIโm sure moving forward, things are going to get better. We know what the basic problems are; thereโs the issue of equipment, personnel and other things that would be said off camera.
โWe know our committees are capable of handling these issues. It is governmentโs priority and I think it should also be our priority in the House as security is one of those major items on our legislative agenda.
โHowever, whatever needs to be done, we must think outside the box by taking the fight to this criminals. Nigerians, are anxious. The stakes are high but I do understand limitations of the outburst.โ
Immediately after his address, reporters were asked out as the House Joint Committees on Defence, met the military chiefs and Magashi in camera.
The chairman of the committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson,who briefed reporters on their deliberations, said the rising cases of insurgency and other forms crimes in the country was their agenda.
Benson added that the Defence Committee was pleased with the meeting because it provided members the room to get โfirst-hand information on what is going on and what the issues are.โ
He said the committee would report back to parliament what they heard from the service chiefs.
โWe are going to discuss; we are going to have a very robust discussion on how to assist, to end this war. It is Nigeria that is at war, โฆ how to end this at the shortest possible time is what we are after,โ stressed.
When asked if the House had made a U-turn on their call for the sack of the service chiefs, Benson said: โIt is not a U-turn, but the most important thing that Nigerians want is the security of their lives and property.
โSacking the service chiefs is not. We can suggest but it a function of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.The buck stops at his table.โ
Present at the meeting were the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, AVm Sadiq abubakar; Chief of Defence Staff was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Defence Ministry, Mrs. Nuratu Batagarawa.
Inspector-General of Police, Mohammad Adamu, who was earlier seen on his way to the Speakerโs office, was represented by an officer. Adamu was at the Senate making a presentation on community policing.
The House and the Senate later held an emergency joint session that lasted for a little over an hour.
Although what transpired at the meeting was not made public, The Nation gathered that it may not be unconnected with last weekโs call by the National Assembly for the sack of the service chiefs.
The sitting of the House began at 1pm on yesterday as against the usual 11am and adjourned at about 2.33pm after the joint session with the Senate.
There was no official word from the leadership of the House on what transpired at the joint session.
Members of the House were also not willing to speak on it.
