The Service Chiefs and members of the House of Representatives met for several hours on Thursday to defend why the emergency rule in three states should be extended.
They said without the six-month extension, the United States and other Allied Forces cannot operate freely to rescue the 276 abducted girls.
Also, they confirmed that National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Air Marshal Alex Badeh had gone to France for a strategic meeting on how to rescue the Chibok girls whose abduction on April 15 has sparked a global outrage.
For more than two and half hours, the Service Chiefs held Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and other members spell bound on the need for six more months of emergency rule in the three states, citing four key reasons to back their stand.
They insisted that the situation in the states remained “fragile”, “unpredictable” and a “threat to peace” and that an extension will boost intelligence gathering and operation against Boko Haram insurgents.
They also insisted that the emergency rule will give the U.S. and other foreign collaborators freedom and legal backing to operate and enter any part of Nigeria to free the abducted 276 girls; and to avoid trial/ sanction by International Criminal Court and other bodies if due process is not followed in military campaigns against insurgents.
It was gathered that the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Usman Jubrin, who stood in for the CDS, gave insights into the operation against the insurgents in the Northeast, stressing that “We need your support as our political leaders to make headway in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. The six-month extension is necessary and we are hopeful that we should be able to curtail these insurgents.
“It is not as if it is convenient for all but it (emergency rule) is the only way to end this insurgency. We have so far succeeded in driving away the insurgents from Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State to only Sambisa Forest from where they come out to operate.
“With what is on ground and our operations so far, we need the extension of the emergency rule. We should also give our foreign collaborators, who are coming to assist, the enabling environment to operate. It is only under the state of emergency that they can function very well to search and rescue the abducted girls.
“The emergency rule gives legal backing for our operations and international intervention. Otherwise, after the insurgency, our soldiers and international collaborators will be appearing before International Criminal Court for crimes. We will get the abducted girls back, but we will not divulge operational information,” he said.
The Service Chiefs cited court verdicts on the invasion of Odi and Zaki-Biam to back up their demand for the extension of the emergency rule, adding that the invasion of the two towns during the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo became a subject of litigation because Obasanjo did not seek the legal backing of the National Assembly.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Kenneth Minimah said that “Although insurgency has abated in Yobe State, the extension of the emergency rule in the three states was designed to prevent Boko Haram from relocating to Yobe State to meet and plot attacks.”
Asked about the package for fallen troops, Gen. Minimah said: “Ideally, soldiers who died under two years in service are not entitled to certain perks and entitlements, but because of the nature of the battle against insurgents, equal treatment is being given to all gallant soldiers.”
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu, admitted that there had been under-funding of the military over the years. “The neglect has been over the years; it is not just today. The Armed Forces will ask for N20billion but they will give N2billion. We plead with you to provide funds for the Armed Forces and security agencies to play their roles well.”
Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar said the extension of the state of emergency will enable the military and security agencies to carry out more intelligence gathering and operate within the ambit of the law. “If you give us the legal backing, the better. Nobody wants to go to ICC for trial after leaving office,” he said.
The Director of the State Security Service, Ekpenyong Ita, said: “We have done a lot to foil many planned attacks by the insurgents. We have been taking preemptive action and we have aborted many attacks.
“We have also tracked down and arrested those behind some of the bomb explosions in some parts of the country. We are doing our best to rescue the abducted girls. Troops are closing in on Sambisa Forest.”
Tambuwal said that “As Nigerians, this is the time to rise above sentiments; we should be patriotic. Let us put national stability and security on the front burners.”
With the emotion-laden evaluation of the Speaker and the brief from the Service Chiefs, the house bought the idea of extending the emergency rule.
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