The Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, on Wednesday, disclosed that the ministry under his leadership would withdraw soldiers from road checkpoints and redeploy them into the bush to confront terrorists directly.
According to Musa, officers of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) would take over checkpoint duties from the military.
Musa stated this during his ministerial screening at the 10th Senate on Wednesday.
He said, “I can assure you that we’re going to address them totally. We’re going to have independent patrol teams that will go and make sure that we do, and what we want to do again is to withdraw basically all military men out of checkpoints and let the police and civil defence corps handle those aspects so that we can go into the bushes and take out these criminals wherever it is they are. It’s important.”
The newly confirmed Defence minister further stated that the redeployment of soldiers in the bushes will play a crucial role in restoring farming activities.
He said, “Farmers must be able to go back to their farms. That is to show that we’re achieving success because, as little as that, it is very important because food security is big. If there is hunger, an angry man…as a hungry man is an angry man. And so if people can’t eat, you can imagine what will happen.
“So, for us, I think, protecting the farm, working with the civil defence corps that has the agro farmers, agro rangers, it’s very important for us to continue to work together.”
He added that his approach would include a total ban on illegal mining and other activities that fuel insecurity.
Musa stated, “We’re working together, we’re going to work together with the NSA’s office to ensure that states don’t adopt such things because those things compromise security. If you negotiate with them, they will never abide by it. It’s just a moment. When they do that, they want to buy time to buy more arms, and then they are going to come, and we have seen it repeatedly. There are even localities that have done that. They still come after them. So, sir, it’s a total ban on that, a total ban on illegal mining and all those other aspects that are bringing these things together. So, I think we must be able to do that