To enable the nation to finally check the ongoing insurgency in the
North East, the Senate Tuesday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a
total war on Boko Haram. It also urged him to mobilise all recourses and
efforts to that effect. The upper legislative chamber, which resumed from its
long recess yesterday, also resolved that the $1billion external loan requested
by the president shortly before it embarked on break be granted an accelerated
approval. Accordingly, the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Committee on Finance was
asked to consider the request and report to the Senate within one week.
Adopting a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, and all other
senators tagged “Threat to National Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of
Nigeria by Insurgents”, the Senate resolved that the Boko Haram challenge had
risen beyond mere insurgency to a full-scale war against the Nigerian State.
They insisted that only a declaration of a total war by the president would
offer a sustainable solution to the menace of the group. Ruling on the motion,
Mark said that “when Boko Haram moved from kidnapping, killing of people and
destruction of property to the occupation of parts of Nigerian territory, it
has declared a total war on Nigeria. There is no difference between what Boko
Haram is doing against Nigeria and what an enemy country waging war against
Nigeria would have done. He added: The issue is beyond that of mere internal
security. It is about how we execute the war. If Boko Haram has captured most
parts of the country we represent and has created a caliphate, it means that
some of the senators from those areas can no longer be in this chamber.
Guardian Newspaper
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