The Senate has urged military authorities to establish a base in Auno following an attack on Sunday which led to the death of many travelers, leaving several vehicles destroyed.
On Thursday, February 13, 2020, the Senate condemned in strong terms the dastardly act perpetrated by these insurgents.
During plenary, the lawmakers observe a minute’s silence in honor of the deceased and victims of the attacks.
The Senate afterward resolved to “urge the military authorities to establish a base in Auno to intensify their efforts in the fight against insurgency in the North East and instruct the Defence Headquarters to set up a panel to investigate what transpired at Auno and find measures to forestall future occurrence”.
Also resolved was a move to make the Federal Government begin a process of rehabilitating the affected communities through the North East Development Commission.
According to the resolutions on Thursday, February 13, 2020, the Senate said it will also urge the Federal Government through NEMA and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to send relief materials to the families of those affected by the attacks.
The legislators also urged the military and all relevant agencies involved in the fight against Boko Haram to re-engineer and or rejig their approach towards fighting insurgency in the North East and other parts of Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday paid a condolence visit to the state but stayed away from Auno, the affected village. The president was booed by displeased residents.
Auno is 15 kilometers to the Maiduguri airport or about 20 minutes road drive. Prior to his departure, Buhari blamed Borno leaders for not doing enough to tackle insurgency locally. Hours later, another round of fire was opened on residents of Jiddari Polo, a town on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
Legislative deliberations
Gabriel Suswam (PDP, Benue) said the ninth assembly, since inauguration, has been preoccupied with discussion on the spate of insecurity in the country.
“We must move beyond talking on the floor here of massive killings of our people. In the past, we have heard that Boko Haram has been exterminated and (it came) from the military that they have finished with Boko Haram,” Suswam said.
“I think that beyond mere propaganda, let us address this issue by going to the source,” he added. “It is not about intelligence; we don’t lack intelligence. These people come in trucks and people who come with trucks cannot be invisible. They come in trucks and they are well-armed.”
When the Senate, in line with its tradition, resolved to observe a minute silence in honor of the memory of the deceased, Minority Leader Eyinnaya Abaribe expressed concerns.
“If we stand here for one minute for every victim who has died in this carnage all this while, we are going to probably stand for 28 or 29 days, we will be standing just because of people who have died.”
