A policy analyst, Anthony Kila, has urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to officially declare war on terrorists and criminal elements threatening the safety of Nigerians.
Kila, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, called for a more aggressive and forceful response to insecurity across the country.
“My view is that the country should realize it is at war and the president, because as the chief security officer, should declare war on those who try to terrorize us or try to kill us,” he said during the programme.
Naijaonpoint reports that while acknowledging the socio-economic debates around causes of insecurity, Kila stressed the need for decisive military action.
“There’s a lot of argument about the socio-economical reasoning for banditry and kidnapping and that we should win the battle for hearts and minds. Yes, I agree with that. But I also believe that we should kill those trying to kill us,” he said.
Kila, who serves as the Director of Studies at the European Centre for Advanced and Professional Studies, further called on the government to exercise its legitimate power.
“I also believe that we should deploy more boots, more bullets, and more bombs. I believe that it is the duty of the state, if it’s worthy of the name, to deploy its superior and legitimate force,” he said.
His comments come amid growing concerns over insecurity, especially in parts of northern Nigeria, where banditry and terrorism continue to claim lives and displace communities.
Meanwhile, former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has said President Bola Tinubu’s recently declared nationwide security emergency will remain ineffective unless those sponsoring or sabotaging national security efforts are arrested and prosecuted.
Amachree made the remarks on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, while responding to concerns over internal sabotage in the military and the worsening insecurity across the country.
He said, “I think there is need that for this state of emergency to be more effective, there should be arrests.
“Let us not just mention that these people have been identified as financiers and we’ve not seen any arrest.”
He insisted that announcements alone are insufficient, stressing the importance of decisive action to restore public confidence.
He said, “There should be arrest, and of course we should create fears in their hearts to make them be sure that they cannot just do anything and get away with it.”
Amachree, responding to reports of military withdrawal prior to the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Kebbi and the killing of Major General Musa Uba, warned that saboteurs within both the military and political class must be exposed.
“I think that there are saboteurs, and we should know that both in the military and in politics, they are all over the place,” he said.
He, however, expressed confidence in the new Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), who he said had already declared his intention to go after those undermining security efforts.
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