Lakurawa Is Just One Tiny Group Seeking Attention – Gen. Akem-Vingir

A former Provost Marshall of the Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen Pat Akem-Vingir (retd) has described the Lakurawa terrorists as a small group seeking attention.

He, however, submitted that the government must not give them attention, but should rather empower the military to crush them.

Speaking on Friday during an interview on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, the retired general submitted that if the Lakurawa group is given attention, they would want to do more.

He said, “We shouldn’t recognise them, we shouldn’t even discuss them because they will think they are being noticed now and want to do more.

“They are one small tiny group that shouldn’t even get out attention; that should be swatted away – that shouldn’t be given any energy to feed upon. They are seeking attention.”

The retired general called on President Bola Tinubu to empower the Nigerian Military with the right equipment, training, and “full authority” to crush the enemies of the state because, without security, there can be no governance.

“The president needs to give the instruction to security agencies in the open where Nigerians will hear it.

“When he does that openly, and tell them I want to see your needs on my table in two weeks because, without security, you can’t be talking about governance,” the former army provost said.

Army Needs More Personnel

Naijaonpoint reports General Akem-Vingir also submitted during the interview that the Nigerian Military needs at least 500,000 personnel to effectively eliminate terror groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

According to him, in the fight against terrorism, the military needs personnel to hold the ground after winning battles so the insurgents would not regain such places.

“Our army is small. We need to have an army of at least 500,000 personnel,” the retired general said.

According to Global Fire Power, Nigeria currently has a military strength of about 230,000 personnel, which the retired general said is inadequate.

He said, “When you are fighting insurgency, you must capture ground and hold it. It takes troops to do that. When you capture ground, then you build and hold so that people can resume their lives and there will be security but if you are clearing areas and you are not holding, then they (terrorists) will come back.”