The immediate past Chief of Army Staff, retired Lt. General Yusuf Tukur Buratai has said that it might take 20 years for Nigeria to completely eliminate Boko Haram insurgence.

This is because, he said, Boko Haram fighters are winning more people from communities, especially in the Northeast, particularly Borno State, aside from the problem of ungovernable spaces in the area and across the country.

Buratai, who was being screened today, February 18, by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs along with past members of the country’s service chiefs for Ambassadorial position, said: “My state (Borno), is an epicenter, where this indoctrination has penetrated so deep. They (insurgents) have won the communities to their side. That is why they (communities) keep Boko Haram. So it is complex, it requires a whole of government approach to solve this, military action or activity is just one aspect.

“One mistake that we have been making is that only the military can solve this. It is not. There are political, social, economic aspects that need to be addressed.

“Development should be progressive, there should be roads everywhere, there should be employment, schools and hospitals all over.

“Yesterday, I counted five local government areas in Borno State that do not have good access roads.

“In northwest, north central, there are so many ungovernable spaces, which the insurgents are penetrating. The places don’t have schools, hospitals and so on and education is very fundamental.

“Unless these things are done, this insecurity will continue because the truth must be told. It may take another 20 years for the country to surmount the problem of Insurgency and that is the truth.”

Also speaking at the screening by the Senate Committee, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, retired General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, attributed the security challenge in the country, especially Boko Haram insurgency to the over 1,000 forest reserves in the country that are not well managed and secured by respective state governments.

He stressed that the problem at hand requires a well galvanized national approach for it to be surmounted since it is more of an asymmetric cum hybrid warfare as against the conventional ones that can easily be confronted and defeated.

“I want to say that the solution to insecurity is multi-pronged. We talk about conventional warfare and asymmetric warfare. We are talking about hybrid warfare where everyone is involved.

“It is not about kinetics. Kinetics gives only 35 per cent success rate in any war we are fighting. It is a national approach that must be properly galvanized for us to actually surmount the insecurity.

“I will say three years ago, I conducted a research on the forests in the country. I realized we have over 1,000 forest reserves. I sent the team to Kenya. They went to Kenya and brought out a paper and I said then, three years ago that our next crisis will be in the forest.

“Some governors were invited and we told them because most of the forests are the prerogative of states. The states took over all the forest reserves. I told them that we have to protect the forests. We have to send troops to protect the forests.

“We did the research in 2018 for six months. I said that the next problem we are going to have is in the forests. But again, it is with us right now. It requires a multifaceted approach.

“Everyone has to come on board for us to be able to address the insecurity situation. You can never have enough weapons, personnel and so on but there are issues we must address and then it has to be all about the nation”

Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique, former Chief of Naval Staff , Vice Admiral Ibok – Ete Ibas and former Chief of Defence Intelligence , Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Sani Usman , who also appeared before the Senate Committee made similar observations and suggestions.

The former Intelligence Chief identified lack of synergy among the various security agencies, as one of the reasons for the lingering security challenges the country is facing.

After the separate screening carried out on the five nominees, the chairman of the Committee, Senator Adamu Muhammad Bulkachuwa (APC Bauchi North), said the committee will submit its report to the Senate next week.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has expressed discomfort with the menace of  scavengers, cultism and drug abuse that have constituted security nuisance to the capital city.

The Minister, who spoke yesterday, February 16, at the regular FCT Security Committee meeting in Abuja, said that the scavengers who often operate under the influence of hard drugs, perpetrate a lot of criminal activities within the city.

“Each time there is crisis, you find that people of no known address, people without any means of livelihood suddenly come up with arms and start fighting each other and killing each other. All these are done under the influence of drugs and this is something that we are going to confront head-on.”

Muhammad Musa Bello said that the scavengers had hitherto concentrated their criminal activities on vandalizing public utilities but had now become major threats to lives and property, reiterating that their activities remain banned in the Federal Capital City

He said that there will now be an improved working synergy within the security and intelligence community in the FCT because the task of the provision of adequate security cannot be left to the police alone.

He also called for the support of the citizenry, especially in terms of providing intelligence to the security agencies, saying: “we need citizens’ support, especially in terms of intelligence dissemination and also for leaders at all levels, whether it’s at the ward level or at the city level or at the village level or at the Area Council level.

“Political leaders at all levels, as well as traditional and religious leaders have to play their part and we need to communicate and also encourage citizens to be law abiding and also to provide needed intelligence. Doing that, I think by the grace of God, we will surmount and continue to make FCT a very safe place for everybody”.

The Minister said that the security agencies also briefed the Committee on their plans and strategies to fight the kidnappings that occur, especially in communities outside the Federal Capital City.

Muhammad Musa Bello said that efforts will be made to continue to encourage the cordial relationship between herders and farmers within the FCT in order to prevent clashes between them.

This was even as the Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu reassured the residents of the capital city of their safety as the Administration is not unaware of the security challenges, adding that it is taking all necessary measures for the protection of lives and property.

She said that the Administration is paying great attention to the reoccurrence of the Ebola Virus disease in Guinea, taking into consideration that the FCT is an international gateway into Nigeria.

Dr. Tijjani Aliyu called on private clinics running the COVID-19 tests without reporting their finding to the relevant health authorities to desist from doing so.

She called for the full disclosure of all mortalities suspected to be COVID-19 so that post mortems can be carried out on the deceased so that their relations can receive adequate care.