A group, Advocacy for Advancement of Peace and Harmony in Africa Initiative (ADAPHAI), has made a call for state of emergency in Borno State.

The group said this would strengthen the security architecture in the zone.

The group also faulted the position of the upper chamber of the National Assembly on its call for the removal of service chiefs, as a way of addressing the lingering insurgency in the Northeast.

The National Coordinator of ADAPHAI, Comrade Sulaimon Suberu, made the call at the NUJ Press Centre in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, during a press conference on Monday.

It advocated a full military operation in Borno State, which was described as an epicentre of terrorism in the North East geo-political zone.

“As an organization with the sole responsibility of propagating peace and non-violent culture in Africa, we are worried with the turn of events in the North- Eastern Nigeria, and the attendant approach of the Nigerian parliament.

“While we are concerned about the best possible solution to the lingering act of insurgency and brutal criminality in the North-East geo-political zone, we are however taken aback by the manner in which the National Assembly, especially the Senate, is addressing this sensitive security issue.

“We believe that the Senate, being the integral harbinger of democratic ethos should have proffered more intelligence-induced panacea to the ongoing imbroglio in the North -East, without playing to the gallery.

“The call for removal of service chiefs, on the heels of the massacre of over 40 famers in Zabarmari village, Borno state is not only reactionary, but a reflection of paucity of tactics and strategy.

“The lawmakers should know that insurgency of that nature in the North East is strictly asymmetrical war, that is rooted in crude ideology, therefore, it requires experienced commanding height of the military, with satisfactory knowledge of the terrain and psychology of the insurgents acquired over time.

“The degenerating security situation in Borno, which remains the epicentre of terrorism in the North- East is as a result of quasi-military operation, in which the security architecture is not completely taking over by the military.

“The quasi-military intervention in the North East, and Borno in particular, is adversely affecting the effectiveness and efficiency of the military operation in the zone, as activities of these criminal elements becoming more pronounced and endemic.

“It should be noted that a full military operation in Borno will have a multiplier effects on the fight against insurgency in the geo-political zone, and also portray a total commitment to the war against insurgency on the part of the Federal Government.

“Strictly speaking, disbandment of the military commanding height at this time is not only dangerous, it would be counter-productive, and turn the fight to the war of attrition”, ADAPHAI concluded.

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