The House of Representatives has accused some of Nigeria’s neighbours of complicity in the rising cases of insecurity within the country.
It also gave a hint of a possible investigation into the activities of some of the countries with regards to allegations that they were sponsoring criminals wreaking havoc across the nation.
This was part of issues discussed at a closed-door meeting held between the lawmakers, service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
Lawmakers who attended the meeting described the three-hour long meeting as “extensive.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, who was flanked by the chairmen and deputy chairmen of other security-related committees, spoke to reporters after the meeting.
Benson said, “It (the meeting) went very well. We got first-hand information on what is going on and what the issues are. We are going to report back to parliament what he heard from the service chiefs.”
Asked if the lawmakers were satisfied with the briefing, they received from the service chiefs, he said, “We were to a large extent; satisfied with what they said. Like I said, we are also going to table what they said before parliament.”
The chairman declined going into the details of what transpired behind closed doors, saying, “Military issues are not things we should discuss in public but they raised a lot of issues that we must all sit down as Nigerians and discuss.”
He, however, said, “One of them (issues) is that, there is probably an international dimension to what we see. There is ISIS, there is ISWAP. These are things that we need to discuss in a very classified manner.
“But what we want Nigerians to know is that we are committed to them 100 per cent, to see that we assist the military and the Armed Forces and ensuring that this matter is put to an end within the shortest possible time.”
In response to a direct question on whether it was true that some neighbouring countries were fuelling insecurity in Nigeria, he said, “Yes. Like I said, that is part of the things we discussed. There could be some truths in that.”
He also dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the House had made a U-turn on its earlier resolution calling on the President Muhammadu
to sack the service chiefs should they failed to resign.
Benson explained that the President had the responsibility to comply with the resolution.
He said, “It is not a U-turn but the most important thing that Nigerians want is the security of their lives and for their properties to be protected. That is the meeting we are having today.
“Sacking the service chiefs is not…we can suggest but it is a function of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces; the buck stops at his table.”
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