President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan says Boko Haram has stopped been a religious sect and has become mechandised as a big industry.
Lawan said Boko Haram now consists of people from different religions and from different countries. “Bokoharam has metamorphosed from initially a group of may be religious zealots into now an industry. It is an industry because what they do is no more religious, they are people from different faiths, from different countries they go about as Boko Haram”.
Lawan lamented how the activities of Boko Haram had persisted despite so many resolutions and efforts by the Senate to stop them. “This Senate passed so many resolutions including the reports of the various ad-hoc committees we set up, Senator Kabiru Gaya once headed a committee on insecurity and he toured many parts of the North West then I also chaired another committee with public hearing and everything with all the service chiefs invited but it has persisted.”
Lawan spoke in response to a “Point of Order” by Senator Abubarkar Kyari (APC Borno North), drawing the attention of the Senate to fresh attacks by Boko Haram in Borno State with scores of citizens killed. Kyari narrated how Boko Haram insurgents recently invaded villages in Borno killing over 90 people, including women and children.
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In his contribution, Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South), noted that the activities of Boko Haram have lingered for too long and it was about time Nigeria dealt decisively with the menance. To achieve this, Ndume advised the leadership of the National Assembly to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to work out new strategies to confront Boko Haram from Nigeria’s North East.
Senate subsequently adopted the advice given by Ndume. The Senate also asked the Federal Government to deploy military action to the Lake Chad Region to flush out the insurgents and called for immediate implementation of the report of its Ad-hoc Committee on Security in order to address the issue of insecurity.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
