Insurgency:National Assembly to meet Jonathan

Abuja – The Chairman, Senate Committee on
Defence, Sen. George Sekibo, on Thursday said the
National Assembly would meet President Goodluck
Jonathan over the insurgency in the North-East.
Sekibo disclosed this at the end of a close-door
meeting of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air
Marshal Alex Badeh, Service Chiefs and the joint
committee on defence of the Senate and the House
of Representatives, in Abuja.
He said that the meeting which lasted about five
hours reviewed the subsisting state of emergency in
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
He said that from the briefing given to the legislators
on the situation by Badeh, “the Nigerian Armed
Forces are on top of the fight against the insurgents.”
He disclosed that the Federal Government had
procured more equipment for the fight against the
insurgents.
Sekibo said that the meeting with the security chiefs
was necessary in view of speculations that
insurgents had taken over several towns and villages
in Borno.
He explained that it was only in one or two towns
that the insurgents had footing, “which cannot be
said to be strongholds.”
He disclosed that the national assembly would study
the briefing by the CDS and have a meeting on it
with Jonathan “to see if more progress can be made.”
He added that the issue of soldiers’ low morale would
be addressed, saying “Nigeria armed forces are
capable of handling the situation”.
“We’ll report the outcome to both chambers and we
will meet the President. We believe that the armed
forces will overcome this problem in no time,” he
said.
On his part, Sekibo’s counterpart in the House of
Representatives, Rep. Bashir Adamu, said that the
insurgency was not something that should be
condoned.
“We will not sit down and watch the situation
deteriorate further. The idea is for us to go and see
the President over the issue,” he said.
He said that as politicians, they would discuss the
matter extensively with Jonathan “so that
there will be lasting peace in the North-East.”