The House of Representatives has on Wednesday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency declare a state of emergency on the nation’s security.
It also wants an investigation into what it described as the low morale of military personnel serving in the North East.
The House also called for the establishment of special camps by the Army and withdrawal of Soldiers from checkpoints to the special camps.
When the aforementioned were thrown on the table, the members of the house of representatives unanimously adopted a motion of urgent the issues.
According to them, the at issues at stake are of public importance considering the recent attack on travellers at Auno village along that Damaturu/Maiduguri road by Boko Haram insurgents.
READ ALSO: Amotokun: Ondo Executive Council Approves Draft Bill, Ready For Passage Into Law
The House, therefore, mandated the military to henceforth stop the practice of keeping commuters overnight at a particular period and allow them to proceed on their journey after 6.00 pm.
Sponsor of the motion and Chief Whip of the House, Rep. Mohammed Tahir Mongunu had drawn the attention of the House to the killing of passengers by the insurgents at a military checkpoint.
He said the passengers were unnecessarily kept by the military who closed the road and refused them from entering Maiduguri once it is past 6.00 pm.
He said after closing the road and disallowing the travellers from continuing with their journey, the military personnel abandoned them there to their faith and were subsequently attacked with some of them, including an infant killed and others were kidnapped.
Speaking in the same vein, Cosponsor of the motion, Rep. Ahmed Jaha disclosed that among the vehicles that were trapped at the checkpoint was a tanker belonging to the military and conveying petroleum product to Maiduguri, wondering how the military could also detain its own truck and leave it at the mercies of the insurgents.
He alleged that the checkpoint was closed the Army 15 minutes before the scheduled time, leaving the travellers stranded, while the soldiers on duty went away to return the following day.
While insisting that the attack on the travellers was avoidable and preventable, he blamed the failure of intelligence gathering for the attack adding that prior to the attack, there were information making the roundabout the movement for the insurgents from one village to the other.
He said it was painful for leaders to stay in their comfort zone while their people are slaughtered, saying “this issue is of national importance. It is the northeast today. Nobody knows where it will affect next.
Rep. Jaha wondered why the military should introduce super camps in the area and closing checkpoints while withdrawing soldiers to those special camps to wait for attacks by the insurgents.
Minority Leader of the House, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu said it was inhuman for the military to close the road and abandon their duty post without security for travellers and emphasised the earlier resolution of the House calling on the service chiefs to resign or be fired.
He drew the attention of the House to a trending video on their social media of soldiers complaining of low morale, adding that the lawmakers kept talking about the same issue of insecurity on a daily basis without commensurate action.
Elumelu said it was time for action on the issue of security in the country, saying ” our brothers and sisters are being slaughtered daily in the northeast.
My worry is that one day, we will be chased out of this chamber. It is high time the right thing is done.
Nigerians voted for President Buhari because he promised to protect them. I still stand by the House resolution that the service chiefs should go because they have outlived their usefulness.”
