Nigeria's former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi,
has urged President Gooduck Jonathan to suspend the governors of Adamawa, Yobe
and Borno states, as a matter of urgency, for their failure to curtail the
activities of Boko Haram insurgents in their respective domains
.Speaking in an interview with newsmen in Zuru, in the Zuru Local Government Area of his home state, Kebbi, the retired army general insisted that the governors’ continued stay in office would be counter-productive to military efforts aimed at dislodging the terrorists, and averred that, in view of the prevailing circumstances, the President should sack them, and allow the military to take full control of the three states.
On the constitutional implications of the emergency rule, Bamaiyi explained that the moment an emergency rule is imposed in an area, the nation has already deviated from its normal constitutional rule, insisting that there is no constitutional provision that says a governor should remain in office under emergency rule.
“This is just like the case of an Army officer who fell down at the battle front, and you continue to leave him there. Therefore, whatever you want to do, try to be just and fair, the Almighty God who has given you the mandate to rule will always be there to protect you,” he reasoned.
The former Army chief, who described the state of insecurity in the country as highly unfortunate, also blamed politicians for the escalation of violence, while advocating that stringent measures are needed to put an end to the carnage.
“It is very unfortunate that governors, who serve as chief security officers of their states, resolve to travel abroad and spend weeks without knowing the security situations in their home states,” he lamented.
Proffering a solution to the insecurity challenges, Bamaiyi said: “We should go back to the grassroots, and find out those who are the actual people perpetrating this violence, because they are human beings, not spirits.”
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