Yobe massacre: Senate orders army chief to relocate to Maiduguri

The Senate today joined the House of Representatives and directed the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah to mobilize all troops and relocate temporarily to the 7th division in Maiduguri the Borno state capital in order to stem the rate of attacks by the Boko Haram sect. The lower legislative chamber had on […]

The Senate today joined the House of Representatives and directed the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah to mobilize all troops and relocate temporarily to the 7th division in Maiduguri the Borno state capital in order to stem the rate of attacks by the Boko Haram sect.

The lower legislative chamber had on 17th February passed a resolution directing the army chief to relocate to Maiduguri after killings of over 100 people in Borno state.

The committee which gave the orders today at a meeting with the chief of army staff and commanders of divisions at the National Assembly, also urged them to re-strategise on possible new ways of curbing the excesses of the Boko Haram sect and regrets over the killing of innocent students in cold blood.

Sekibo also called on President Goodluck Jonathan to mobilize all needed resource for the armed forces to face “this national challenge, as this battle must be won to sustain our nation’s stability and unity as it is only in the atmosphere of peace and tranquility that development can be carried out.”

“We hereby as the committee overseeing your activities, direct that your office relocate temporary to the 7th division in Maiduguri and that you take urgent and appropriate steps to quell the situation,” committee chairman Senator George Thompson Sekibo directed.

Although General Minimah was at the National Assembly to defend the 2014 budget of the Nigerian Army, the Senators declined to engage him on the budget estimate and said: “Because of the situation, the committee will receive your budget proposal without going through the lines as no one goes to the town square to dance when there is fire in his house.”

“From today all schools and health institutions should be provided with special security, as we do not want a repeat of these killings of our innocent citizens. For us the quelling of this insurgency and giving confidence of safety to Nigerians is of utmost priority,” Sekibo (PDP, Rivers), said.

While condemning the atrocity being unleashed by the Boko Haram insurgents on innocent citizens of the country, Sekibo disclosed that the committee will take a tour of the three affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa when the upper chamber resumes plenary sitting.