The House of Representatives have given a nod to the request from President Goodluck Jonathan to extend the State of Emergency in the three Northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa, which are the hotbeds of the insurgency crisis rocking the country.
The decision was taken after the service chiefs made a two and a half hour presentation to the House on the necessity to extend the status quo in the Northeast region.
Paramount on the rational for the extension of the emergency was the need to enable local and international forces get the girls away from their abductors.
Other reasons provided were the fragile and unpredictable nature of the states which was a threat to peace and livelihood; the need to boost intelligence gathering; avoidance of trial and sanctions by International Criminal Court and other similar bodies should the army not follow conventional tactics in dealing with the group.
Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Usman Jubrin who stood in for the Chief of Army Staff, Alex Badeh said, “We need your support as our political leaders to make headway in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. The six-month extension is necessary and we are hopeful that we should be able to curtail these insurgents.
“It is not as if it is convenient for all but it (emergency rule) is the only way to end this insurgency. We have so far succeeded in driving away the insurgents from Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State to only Sambisa Forest from where they come out to operate.
“With what is on ground and our operations so far, we need the extension of the emergency rule.
“We should also give our foreign collaborators, who are coming to assist, the enabling environment to operate. It is only under the state of emergency that they can function very well to search and rescue the abducted girls.
“The emergency rule gives legal backing for our operations and international intervention. Otherwise, after the insurgency, our soldiers and international collaborators will be appearing before International Criminal Court for crimes.
“We will get the abducted girls back, but we will not divulge operational information,” he said.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Kenneth Minimah said: “Although insurgency has abated in Yobe State, the extension of the emergency rule in the three states was designed to prevent Boko Haram from relocating to Yobe State to meet and plot attacks.”
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu said the Army had been underfunded over the years.
“The neglect has been over the years; it is not just today. The Armed Forces will ask for N20billion but they will give N2billion.
“We plead with you to provide funds for the Armed Forces and security agencies to play their roles well.”
Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar said: “The extension of the state of emergency will enable the military and security agencies to carry out more intelligence gathering and operate within the ambit of the law.
“If you give us the legal backing, the better. Nobody wants to go to ICC for trial after leaving office.”
The Director of the State Security Service, Ekpenyong Ita, said: “We have done a lot to foil many planned attacks by the insurgents. We have been taking preemptive action and we have aborted many attacks.
“We have also tracked down and arrested those behind some of the bomb explosions in some parts of the country.
“We are doing our best to rescue the abducted girls. Troops are closing in on Sambisa Forest.”
Defence Chief Alex Badeh was unavailable to attend the session as he accompanied National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki to France in order to attend a security strategy meeting on how to retrieve the abducted school girls.
Speaker Aminu Tambuwal said: “As Nigerians, this is the time to rise above sentiments; we should be patriotic. Let us put national stability and security on the front burners.”
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