FORMER Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, has called on the Federal Government to expand its joint military operations with the United States to the North-East, pointing to the lingering threat posed by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the region.
Ndume made the call in a statement issued on Saturday, where he praised the recent military airstrikes targeting ISWAP cells in Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
“I also want to suggest that the military cooperation with the United States should extend to ground troops in training, intelligence, and logistics. They should also back it up with attack helicopter support for ground troops.”
The former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army said widening the joint military operations to include the North-East would deal a major blow to insurgent groups in the region, especially ISWAP and Boko Haram.
Reacting to the recent suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Gamboru, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, which reportedly killed five people and injured several others, the lawmaker expressed condolences to the victims and their families.
“In this instance, on the eve of Christmas, all the victims were Muslims. So, the narrative of Christian genocide doesn’t exist. The terrorists making life unbearable for our people are blind to religion,” he stated.
Ndume’s comments come against the backdrop of renewed international focus on Nigeria’s security situation, following confirmation by United States President Donald Trump that American forces carried out a military airstrike targeting suspected terrorist elements in Sokoto State.
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, stated on Friday that President Tinubu had approved the US-led strikes against terrorists in the country’s North-Western region.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to announce the US had struck in Sokoto State, stating that the operation, which targeted militants responsible for the killing of “innocent Christians”, was ordered by him in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the United States.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.