Gwoza suicide attacks failure of security intelligence, says Akpabio

Ignatius Okorocha, Abuja,AHMED MARI, Maiduguri

The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday described the multiple suicide bombing attacks of Gwoza Community of Borno State as a failure of Security Intelligence gathering by the nation’s security apparatus.

Akpabio’s comment is coming on the heels of a motion by Senator Ali Ndume, APC Borno South, on matters of national importance titled; Suicide Attacks in Gwoza, Borno State: The Urgency to Stem the Tide of this Ugly Menace.

The Senate President who lamented the huge loss of lives in the attacks said if the security operatives have been more proactive in gathering intelligence, the incidence could have been averted.

“This is a failure of intelligence, preventive security must be emphasized if we are to prevent this kind of incident from happening again,” he said.

Senator, Ali Ndume who sponsored the motion noted that the brazen suicide bombers who targeted a wedding ceremony, funeral and hospital in a sporadic and coordinated attacks in the Gwoza town of Borno State were carried out by well dressed young girls who had been indoctrinated to commit the suicide bombing as a way to heaven.

“This resulted in the unfortunate deaths of about 32 innocent Nigerians so far, leaving scores of other victims wounded with varied degrees of injuries.

“One of the incidents occurred near a busy motor park in Tashan Mararaba, Gwoza town and the victims were mainly civilians returning from a wedding ceremony, where the assailant was identified to be a young lady in her early twenties,” he said.

Ndume said these attacks have raised significant concerns about the security situation in the region, which has been a flash point of terrorist attacks over the years, and this calls for concerted and coordinated efforts of the security agencies to address the state of insecurity in Borno State and other parts of the country experiencing similar situations.

He stated further that in today’s world, asymmetric warfare, whereby its strategy and tactics, differ significantly from the normal conventional war, the approach by our security agencies should be scientifically and technologically based with the use of modern softwares and facilities to fight the menace,

The Borno Senator then urged the Senate to observe a minute silence in honour of those innocent Nigerians who lost their precious lives from these unfortunate incidents.

He also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to intensify efforts by providing relief materials to the victims of the attacks while calling on the Federal Government to direct the security agencies in the country to deploy the use of modern technology in the fight against insurgency and to make concerted efforts in securing the hot spots inhabited by the insurgents, namely, the Lake Chad Region, Sambisa Forest; and Mandara Mountains, respectively.

However, an amendment to the prayers by Senator Adams Oshiomole seeking the probe of army fund diverted to establishment of Education institution by past army chiefs was voted out by the Senate.

Senator Adam Oshiomhole had raised the matter during the consideration of the prayers of a motion by Senator Ali Ndume on the recent bombings by terrorists in Borno State which claimed the lives of many People.

He had drawn the attention of lawmakers to what he describes as diversion of huge budgetary sums earmarked for security by the national assembly by past security chiefs.

The lawmaker decried a situation where monies meant for the fight against insecurity are used in using private homes and universities.He urged the national assembly to put a stop to the acts.

When the President of the senate,Senator Godswill Akpabio put the question on the prayer, the nays had it thereby rejecting that aspect of the motion.

Afterwards,the lawmakers urged the National Emergency Management Agency to provide relief materials to the victims of the 29th June attacks,pledged to support the military in the fight against insurgency and held a minute silence in honour of the dead.

In their Contribution,Senator Jimoh ibrahim said,”It is a sad day and it is a period of moments of reflection because we are talking about insecurity. If I had my way, I would have suggested that all proceedings be suspended today in honor of innocent Nigerians that were killed by these incredible acts of embarrassment caused in Bono.

” As a matter of fact, the president’s presence, just recalling Thomas Hobbes here, is looking day and day that life of man is short, brutal, and terribly embarrassing, even the leviathan.
reviews to response to the insecurity going on day by day, particularly in Nigeria. And this can be very, very dangerous.

“Living with insecurity is gradually becoming the only way to understand security. And we cannot allow this trend to continue because of the danger that it portrays. I don’t want to take much of your time, but I will say clearly It cost nothing for the intelligence army to get devices in their phone to know where these notorious criminals live.

“As I’m here, I check my phone regularly and I know the number of guns that are very close to me here. This is just less than 1,000 installations. Within us now, there are over 277 guns around here. I don’t because I’m already exposed to this mess. So what am I saying? We can use technology, just like the civil service that Ndume has said, to deploy to these soldiers, rather you say hands, and all this unknown strategy. Prof, you know you have PhD in warfare. Yes.

Continuing he said,”Do you know there about 277 guns around you here now. Yes, around the National Assembly. You know how many of them have bullets inside? Ah, hehehe. Mr. Senate President, we can actually do a probability. If you have 277 guns close to you, with the radius of one kilometer, the probability that half of them have guns is one. And that is dangerous.

“I will need to find out the source of those guns. But because I can locate that there are more close to us and very close to Villa, then I understand we are safe. I want to say very clearly
that the military should stop using unconventional strategy to fight the surgency in Nigeria.

“There’s a distinction between conventional strategy and non-conventional strategy. We need to go to non-conventional strategy to fight unconventional war. Boko Haram is unconventional war. It’s not a conventional war.

“Our people have started dying. It’s sad. It’s painful. It’s uncomfortable. It’s unacceptable and it’s rejected in the totality of his formulation. Eliminate. Thank you, Mr. President.”