Donald Duke, the former governor of Cross River state, has alleged that security agents sell weapons to members of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
The former presidential aspirant made the claim on Sunday while speaking on a Channels TV programme. He called for a holistic investigation into the terror group’s source of arms.
Duke stated that most of the weaponry used by Boko Haram come from military armoury.
“Most of the weaponry used by Boko Haram come from our armoury. We will need to look into that. Why are we selling weapons to the enemy?” he asked.
He said there is a need for a “complete revamp of our security network” to avoid losing the country; suggesting that there should be police presence in every five kilometers.
In the views of the frontline politician, graduates who can think like perpetrators of crime should be recruited into the force to improve intelligence gathering.
He asked the federal government to train and motivate policemen and soldiers fighting the insurgents.
“The level of people we bring into the force is a bit too low. Crime is a lot more sophisticated than that. We need people who can think alongside the perpetrators of the crime. We need to up the ante and train them and motivate them. There has to be an insurance scheme to look after them,” he said.
“Motivate the soldiers in the northeast. I think they are under-motivated. We need to task them on intelligence gathering. More of intelligence than firepower.
“On the other front, by now, we need to develop a strategy on kidnap. Are the police properly motivated? I doubt it, and they don’t have enough weaponry.”
Boko Haram terrorists killed scores of farmers in Borno state on Saturday. Other security challenges (apart from terrorism) prevalent in the country presently include kidnapping, armed robbery, rape and sundry crimes.
Criminality has been on the rise in recent years- a phenomenon the minister of transport Rotimi Amaechi attributed to hunger and poverty.
