Lawyer Challenges FG to Engage Ex-military, Paramilitary Personnel

A Lawyer, Dr Kayode Ajulo, on Saturday tasked the Federal Government to recruit retired military and paramilitary personnel in the battle against insurgency, banditry and kidnapping.

He said in a statement issued in Abuja that such recruitment was better than engaging the services of mercenaries.

He said rather than heeding to calls for the engagement of mercenaries and external support, President Muhammadu Buhari should engage the services of prominent and meritorious retired public officers.

He stated that there was also the need for the convocation of national security summit where the experiences of veterans and their expertise would be put to use to surmount the raging insecurity.

The legal practitioner added that Nigeria’s social and economic indicators could deteriorate further unless radical reforms were undertaken to improve the efficiency of the defence and security institutions.

He said that there was the need for government to be proactive in dealing with security issues and threats through modern methods of intelligence gathering and sharing.

He added that government should also intensify training, logistics, motivation, and deployment of advanced technology in confronting security challenges.

“We are at a critical juncture where we need to collaborate and support one another against the devastation and decadence currently beleaguering the Nigerian landscape.

“Solidarity is indeed non-negotiable at this time and the expectation of everyone is that the insecurity would be arrested in no time.

“It is my strong belief that policies and actions in response to the crisis must be prioritised to protect the vulnerable,’’ Ajulo stated.

He enjoined the citizenry to contribute to the development of sustainable, inclusive, fair, humane and decent policies that could arrest the current insecurity.