Nigerians demand bigger budget for counter-terror op

By Olarewaju Kola

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AA) - Nigerians are calling for a bigger budget for the military’s counter-terrorism operation in the country’s volatile northeast, which has suffered from a more than decade-long insurgency by Boko Haram militants.

A security summit convened by the Nigerian Police Force in Maiduguri, the heartland of Boko Haram, asked the federal government to increase the amount of funds allocated for procurement of military hardware and allowances to security forces fighting Boko Haram in the region.

“The summit calls on the federal government to urgently increase funding for the Nigerian Armed Forces, the police and other security agencies involved in the fight against the insurgency,” said a communiqué issued late Tuesday at the end of the summit.

The summit was organized by the police to gear people up to participate in developing strategies to tackle terrorism and other crimes in the region, said Police Inspector General Mohammed Adamu.

It was attended by the governors of Nigeria’s six northeast states, military and security chiefs, members of parliament, traditional rulers and religious, community and labor leaders.

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, Boko Haram’s birthplace and the heartland of the violence, asked the military to take the battle to the terrorist enclave to end the war.

Ali Ndume, the Senate Committee chairman on Army, said the military did not have adequate equipment and personnel to end the violence sooner.

Nigeria has allocated about $1.5 billion for the purchase of defense equipment, ammunition, sea boats and operation vehicles for fiscal 2020.