Insecurity: Silence not golden at this time, Senator Ndume tells Buhari

Senator representing Borno South and Chairman Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume has urged President Muhammadu to cultivate the habit of talking to Nigerians amidst scary security situations in the country.

Senator Ndume gave the admonition, on Thursday, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.

The Chairman Senate Committee on Army asked President Buhari to learn from the President of the United States, Joe Biden who makes it a daily event to brief Americans on the fate of his citizens still trapped in Afghanistan.

Senator Ndume said Nigerians did not vote for presidential spokespersons and should not be restricted to information flow from third parties.

He said: “I am just being worried that the president is not talking to Nigerians. In a situation like this, silence is not golden.

“If the US President could be addressing Americans every day on the issue in Afghanistan, I also expect President Muhammadu Buhari, to be addressing Nigerians either daily, weekly or fortnightly on the security situations across Nigeria.”

The usual statements from his media aides is not the solution. “The President should create a situation room to brief Nigerians on the current situation and what his government is doing about it.

“Such action would allay the fears of the people. It is not enough to provide the security agencies with everything they need to prosecute the war, the president should take charge.

“He should also cultivate the habit of visiting places where incidents happen to physically assess the situation on the ground.”

On the Tuesday attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna State by bandits, the federal lawmaker said it only confirmed how daring the bandits have become as he noted that the military has since become overwhelmed in the face of security challenges across the country.

“At the peak of the insurgency, the Boko Haram terrorists had the audacity in the past to take their fight to the military formations and barracks and the soldiers had had cause to withdraw from those areas and up till now, some of those military barracks had yet to be recovered or rebuilt.

“The attack on the NDA is therefore not the first, second or third time that the criminals would attack a military formation, however, this is the only time that the bandits have the audacity to take their fight to a military training institution. This is very unfortunate because they were so daring.

“I still believe that the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces have well-trained personnel who had done well in international engagements.

“So they have the capacity just that they are overwhelmed because they are facing many challenges from different fronts. There is no part of the country that is free of security challenges.

“I believe the insecurity situation is at its peak and the terrorists are engaging in guerilla warfare to send signals that they had not been eliminated.

“I have the confidence that before the end of the week, the military will take decisive action because I know that that the commandant of the NDA, being a gallant soldier had embarked on a massive manhunt that would yield results.”

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