THE BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) movement in the day3 march of its Global Week of Action has called for improved welfare and adequate funding for Nigerian soldiers in the ongoing fight against terrorism.
It said this was necessary to enable the military, produce commensurate results for the funding it receives.
In a text, signed by conveners of the group, Oby Ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu, it said this can be achieved through transparent and effective financial management systems that prioritise and account for spending appropriately.
“Our movement has always advocated for adequate financing of the counterinsurgency war. Complementary to this is a necessity for the military establishment to produce commensurate results for the funding it receives,” it said.
While expressing worry over instances where soldiers lose their lives due to poor equipment, it called on the Federal Government (FG) as well as the military and security establishments to immediately entrench systems of transparency, accountability and measurement of results in the financing of the war.
“Whenever we hear or read of allegations of military resources allocated to prosecute the war becoming mired in misappropriation and misallocation it shocks the public.
“The shock is deeper when officers, men and women lose their lives at the war front because they were poorly equipped.
“While it is understandable that security operations are mostly classified, citizens believe that a degree of transparency, accountability and disclosure is essential to gaining public confidence and achieving optimal results,” the group explained.
On arms procurement, it doubted if the military has procured the cutting edge military equipment and technology needed to successfully bring the fight against terrorism to a halt.
“Has our intelligence community procured the sophisticated range of intelligence assets necessary to anticipate and prevent attacks as well as to trace the activities of our enemies?”It queried.
To this end, it, urge the Federal Government, the military/security establishments to institute an independent audit to ascertain the factual state of weapons, equipment, intelligence assets and other logistical requirements for executing the war on terror successfully.
The group suggested that all investigations launched by the Federal Government on the procurement activities of the military prosecuting the war should be concluded and made public.
Also, it sought for premium life insurance cover for all soldiers deployed to fight insurgency, as well as adequate and timely compensation for the families of soldiers killed in the line of duty.
It further demanded for adequate care and support for injured soldiers adequate reward for gallantry.
“This is the time to upgrade the reward system for families of fallen soldiers, both officers and other ranks. A review must be done with the harsh reality of our present economic travails in mind,” it said.
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