Tukur Buratai
Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd), has accused politicians of creating insurgency and allied insecurity issues and leaving it for the military to fix. He did not name the politicians.
Buratai who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily said defeating insecurity in Nigeria requires a holistic, long term approach, stressing that leaving the fight against insecurity to the military alone won’t help the situation. He served in the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“It was started through some political actors, and it was essentially a political issue. This insecurity is essentially political, and now, it’s been left to the military, and the political actors are staying behind.
“So, this is something that is needed for a total review of the security aspect in terms of political associations or political involvement and so on,” he said.
To tame the bogey of insecurity, Buratai suggested a lockdown of Nigeria’s borders as it was done to deal with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
He said allowing insurgency to continue to linger was dangerous for the country, hence the need to invest in tackling the problem.
He recommended community resilience, involving collaboration among political, traditional, and religious leaders.
He recalled that he had earlier warned that the insurgency would last longer, hence the need for a long-term plan, adding that the military should be seen as a solution to insecurity, rather than a hindrance.
