The Federal Government, headed by President Muhammadu Buhari, was urged on Monday, August 8, by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) to hire mercenaries to aid the military in its fight against the terrorists’ onslaught.
In a statement, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the national coordinator of HURIWA, called the rate at which Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province terrorists have been killing soldiers over the past two years as alarming and unprecedented.
According to the group, the over 750 troops killed by militants in the past two years is concerning and indicates that military tiredness has taken hold, which is to blame for the recent high rate of deaths incurred by the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, and Nigerian Navy.
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According to a study published in August 2022, terrorists on the loose in the nation have targeted around 16 military bases in the previous 18 months, killing about 750 soldiers across the nation.
HURIWA Seeks Prompt Action
Because of this, the President needs to be firm and take prompt action, according to HURIWA, in addition to denouncing the terrorists’ assault on the military.
Onwubiko said;
The President as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces must strategise the anti-terrorism war because apparently, the troops are losing with hundreds having had to pay the supreme price in the last two years.
A compilation by SUNDAY PUNCH of August 7, 2022, is alarming. The report put the figure of soldiers fell by terrorists at 750 soldiers between the third quarter of 2020 and July 2022. This is unacceptable.
The President must with immediate effect reshuffle the security architecture and sack the service chiefs whose lack of effective leadership have cost over 750 families their beloved brothers, sisters, and breadwinners.
The human rights organisation also implored the FG to prioritise the welfare of the troops in order to boost morale in the war against the terrorists.
The President must ensure that the morale of the soldiers still alive are boosted through the timely payment of salaries, acquisition of modern-day superior weapons as soldiers in leaked videos have decried the absence of superior firepower to their adversaries, payment of entitlement to families of fallen heroes, amongst others.
Also, the engagement of foreign mercenaries cannot be overstressed. As buttressed by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, the Armed Forces are overstretched as they are now engaged in internal security operations which should have been led by the Nigeria Police Force. The deployment of foreign mercenaries is exigent to avoid the further loss of military personnel. Any resistance to this is suicidal.
