Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe has suggested what he called ‘marshal security plan’ to the Federal Government to tackle the current insurgency in the north eastern part of the country.
The governor’s position is contained in statement signed by Mr Abdullahi Bego, his Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, and released in Abuja on Thursday.
The plan, the statement explained, should involve the allocation of “special funds for palliative empowerment and regeneration scheme.
“This would do significant good to public confidence and boost the capacity of hardworking and innocent ordinary citizens to live their normal daily lives”.
It stressed that the suggested plan was important since President Goodluck Jonathan had ruled out any compensation to victims of Boko Haram attacks.
It held that unless the plan was adopted, an extension of emergency rule in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa would amount to motion without movement.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Senate, on Thursday, approved the extension of state of emergency in the three states by six months as requested by Jonathan.
According to the statement, the Yobe governor stated that the emergency rule, which he supported, had not yielded the desired results.
The statement reads: “While the military and other security agencies have done and continue to do a commendable job in every circumstance, insurgents and criminals are still able to carry out heinous attacks on innocent people.
“The recent attacks across the northeast could be used as rationale for the extension of emergency rule.
“It is time the Federal Government moves beyond nomenclature and actually addresses the ongoing senseless and violent insurgency as a national emergency.
“In the wake of the College of Agriculture, Gujba attack in which 42 young, bright and hardworking students were killed, the governor made a number of observations and appeals which he still believes are pertinent now.
“First; that the federal government should provide security personnel on the ground in Yobe with advanced weaponry and communications apparatus to enable them to track down criminals and insurgents operating in the areas.
“Currently, security agents on the ground do not have the superior weaponry and advanced communications capabilities needed to counter and deal the insurgents the blow that every peace-loving citizen wants.
“Second; that the federal government should urgently review and upgrade the surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities of the security agents to be able to detect, prevent and bring criminals to justice.
Third; that the federal government should urgently deploy and maintain regular aerial surveillance and ground patrol along major highways in Yobe and other affected states to nip criminality in the bud.
“Currently, many of the attacks on innocent people in the northeast take place in broad day light on the highways.
“Gaidam said the logistic support provided by the State Government to security agents on the ground was taking a huge toll on its finances and ability to meet other obligations”.
The statement, nonetheless, assured security agents on the ground that the state government and citizens of the state would continue to support them in their patriotic and courageous services to the nation. (NAN)
