Former Defence Adviser to Benin Republic and ex-Adjutant, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), General Yakubu Usman (retd), has applauded the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan to rout insurgents in the North East, saying the terrorists started their activities during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to Usman, who spoke during the press conference addressed by The Justice for Mandate Group in Abuja, the insurgents started their activities in 2002 in Gusau, Yobe State and each time they are dislodged by the military they changed location to other places in Yobe and Borno States.
The retired General admitted that activities of the Islamic terrorists took the military by surprise, but added that recent victories recorded by the military shows that the newly acquired weapons were yielding results.
Usman declared that the positive result recorded by the military stems from the fact that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has equipped the military more than any other government in history since independence.
He said: “The situation facing Nigeria did not start today. You can trace it back to decades of neglect. As far as the security is concerned, the insurgency started in 2002. They were dislodged and they dispersed. But politicians brought them back for their own use. They used and abandoned them.
“They regrouped, and today, we call them Boko Haram. They moved into the North East and gained ground. Unfortunately, the military was taken aback. It was strange to the military back then. What we have today is a situation where Mr. President is trying to acquire sophisticated weapons to tackle the insurgents. Few weeks ago, there were about 14 Local Governments under the control of Boko Haram. As of today, we only have three. If the president comes back, he will do more.”
Speaking on the directive issued by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba that voters should leave polling booths after casting their votes, General Usman said: “When people gather and await results after elections, we know the tension that follows. The views of the Inspector-General of Police were made in good faith. As a security expert, I think it is better for voters to leave after casting their votes. That way, we will be able to minimise crisis.”
In his remarks, Engr. Noah Dallaji, coordinator of Jonathan’s Justice for Mandate Group said: “Many people are bringing lots of confusion through the social media networks. Politics is not supposed to be war. It is wrong for anybody to instigate others to cause crisis. For any man to be abusing an incumbent president shows that he’s a tout.
“As a president, you must be respected. Those insulting the president are not responsible. They think they are playing politics. If I am the president, such a thing will not happen. I condemn that and I think it is totally wrong.”
Another member of the group, Dr Linus Ijeoma slammed the INEC chairman, Atahiru Jega for insisting on the use of electronic card readers for the conduct of the general election without adequately test running the technology nationwide.
He maintained that it is wrong to deploy electronic equipment for a major event without testing the technology. “How can you use a technology from China by not-well-trained ad-hoc staff?” he asked.
Dr Ijeoma further declared that it is not possible for all voters to be accredited within the time frame given by INEC as it takes about three minutes for one voter to be cleared, and in a polling unit where they have as many as one thousand registered voters, only 120 voters will be accredited in six hours.
He expressed fears about the quality of the card readers saying, “these things would soon pack up because it is China technology.
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