Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume has revealed that he feels more secure in Maiduguri, Borno State, than Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Senator revealed this on Thursday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Ndume who expressed concern over the security challenges in the FCT said the insurgents have been kept away from Maiduguri and can only attack soft targets in other areas of Borno State.
In his words: “I live in Abuja and also live in Maiduguri. Once I come to Maiduguri, I feel safer than in Abuja, because somebody can knock down your door with a gun. In Maiduguri, we don’t hear of that.
“It is outside Maiduguri where the insurgents are marauding around and attack intermittently. And that’s normal with insurgents, that’s why they are called insurgents, they do hit and run on soft targets.”
He noted that “in every society, you can’t wipe out criminality completely. In America, there is school shooting. Our own is that we have known terrorists and the army is fighting them.”
Ndume who has always advocated for more funding for the army acknowledged that this is improving due to President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to the welfare of the fighting troops.
“With the new budget, things will soon change,” he said.
Gatekeepers News reports that on President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Borno State today (Thursday), Ndume said the visit was a boost to the morale of the Nigerian troops.
“The President went round for six hours – I was tired. He came in 10 o’clock and we were going to see various projects until four o’clock this evening before he left,” he said, praising President Buhari’s stamina.
The Senator applauded Buhari’s welfare plans for the state, including the decision to build 10,000 houses for displaced persons and the provision of financing for a power plant.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to “walk the talk” and fast-track its financing of army operations, especially the acquisition of improved fighting equipment.
“We should now walk the talk by accelerating the release of funds on time,” Ndume said. “The army now has the numbers.”
