Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno south, says the country is presently at war with criminals.
The lawmaker said this when he appeared as a guest on a Channels TV programme on Sunday.
According to him, the security challenges in the country have gone beyond Boko Haram insurgency to other crimes in various parts of the country.
Ndume said, “Nigerians think it is Borno state that is at war, and the armed forces, but that is not the case. Nigerians are supposed to know we are in a state of war.
“I think that it is high time for the government and Nigerians, in general, to see that Nigeria is at war with criminals. And this is not a conventional war.
“And attention should be focused more on solving these insecurity challenges that are not only affecting the north-east now but spreading to other areas and has made Nigerians so frustrated and you can see that Nigerians are taking to the streets to demonstrate.”
Ndume added also more security personnel are needed to tackle insecurity in the country.
“The police we have in this country is not up to 400,000; the Nigerian army and armed forces that we have are around 150,000 with around 6,000 officers.
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“But the situation we are facing here with banditry here and there, with the police and army not well equipped and not well motivated, there is the need to face this challenge seriously.”
He spoke also of the resurgence of Boko Haram insurgency.
“When this government took over, virtually all our local governments in Borno state, about 22, were occupied by Boko Haram.
“When this government came in, Boko Haram was chased out, decimated and we thought it was even eliminated; it has been defeated but not eliminated.
“But recently, there is a resurgence of the insurgents in the north-east and particularly Borno state. But I still have the belief that the insurgency or the security challenges we are facing in this country can be addressed if the government becomes more serious and put in more resources.”
