Mark urges full scale military campaign against insurgents
(Nigeria) The Senate President,
David Mark, on Tuesday in Abuja, urged the Federal Government to declare full
scale military operation against insurgents in the North East.
Mark made the call in an address to welcome senators back
from Easter recess.
He said the heightened spate of terrorist attacks and
killings carried out by insurgents in the North East amounted to a declaration
of war against the country.
He noted that in view of the fact that the insurgents had
rejected calls for dialogue, the government should embark on comprehensive
military onslaught to stamp out the menace.
``There is no doubt that our nation is at war. The enemy has
clearly and unequivocally served the nation notice of its vile intentions. It
is obvious that we are dealing with insurgents and well-funded nihilists who
are determined to violently trample upon the secularity of the Nigerian state
and destroy the country.
``Therefore, a clear, unambiguous and decisive military
response from the government, beyond the imposition of a state of emergency, is
urgently required in this circumstance. The full might and strength of our
security services must now be deployed to confront this scourge. And this must
be done within the shortest possible time frame with minimal casualties,” he
said.
Mark also urged the Federal Government to deploy all
available resources to not only combat the forces of destruction, but also
unmask and punish the sponsors of terrorist groups plundering the country.
He said the campaign would be realised when local
communities and other sections of Nigerians gave adequate support to the armed
forces in their quest to contain the insurgency.
He added that ``our emphasis must, therefore, be on winning
the hearts and minds of the communities in the immediate theatres of conflict.
``Government must do all it can to immediately identify the
sponsors and the source of funds to the terrorists and the insurgents. In this
connection, anybody who is implicated, no matter how highly placed, should not
be treated as a sacred cow.’’
Mark pledged the determination of the National Assembly to
sustain its partnership with all arms of government and Nigerians to bring
insurgency to an end.
He warned politicians to desist from making statements
capable of undermining the efforts of the members of the armed forces.
The Senate president said ``we will activate and deploy
every possible constitutional legislative instrument in aid of the war against
terror.
``We must not quibble, nor speak along party lines. We must
speak out as Nigerians and collectively, we must flash a powerful signal
against terror.’’
He, however, noted that the door should be left open to any effort
to employ dialogue as means of finding a lasting solution to terrorism and
insurgency in the country.
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