Insurgency: Gbajabiamila, other lawmakers kick over foreign influence

Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of House of Representatives, and the chairman committee on defence, Babajimi Benson, allege that foreign governments fuel the insurgency in the country.

Benson said: “Yes, as I said, that is part of the things we discussed. There could be some truth in that. “Military issues are not things we should discuss in public but they raised a lot of issues that we must all sit down as Nigerians and discuss.

“One of them is that there is probably an international dimension to what we see. There is ISIS, there is ISWAP. These are things that we need to discuss in a very classified manner.

“But what we want Nigerians to know is that we are committed to them 100 per cent, to see that we assist the military and the Armed Forces and ensuring that this matter is put to an end within the shortest possible time.”

“We were to a large extent satisfied with what they said. As I said, we are also going to table what they said before parliament. We are going to discuss; we are going to have a very robust discussion on how to assist, to end this war. It is Nigeria that is at war…how to end this at the shortest possible time”

On his part, Gbajabiamila, said: “I thought I should be here to encourage everybody that we’re all on the same page. We all know the situation in Nigeria today; we can’t hide from it; we can’t shy away from it. We cannot pretend that it doesn’t exist.

“We spent practically the whole day on Wednesday (January 29) discussing the security situation in Nigeria as expected. Simultaneously, the Senate was doing the same thing without us comparing notes.

“So, it was a natural reaction to what is going on in the country today. Back home, our constituents are on our necks. People are dying every day; they are dying callously in ways that you can only find in countries without security forces. But we know that you guys are doing a lot.

“We must think outside the box; we must take the battle to these criminals wherever they are‎. Like I said at the State House the other day, Nigerians are anxious, but I do understand the limitations of the Armed Forces.”