SAN FRANCISCO, December 31, (THEWILL) – Governors have appealed to the Federal Government to hold on its plan to pull out the military from ongoing internal security operations in various parts of the country.
The military decision was taken during a Security Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.
Shortly after the meeting, some governors in separate interviews with The PUNCH, appealed to the Federal Government not to withdraw troops from their states.
The governors include Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Darius Ishaku of Taraba State and their counterpart in Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle.
Commenting on the Federal Government’s decision, the Benue State Governor, Ortom, appealed to Buhari not to withdraw troops code-named Operation Whirl Stroke deployed in the state.
Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke were deployed in the state in 2018 in the wake of the herdsmen attacks.
Ortom, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, appealed for an extension of the presence of the troops to allow the displaced persons return to their ancestral homes.
The governor said, “Our position is an appeal to Mr President. He had done Benue well by deploying Operation Whirl Stroke to help tame the menace of herdsmen at the time Benue needed intervention.
“We appeal to the President to extend the life-span of the troops at least by a year to enable our people at the IDPs camps to resettle in their ancestral homes.”
Also, the Zamfara State Government opposed the plan by the Federal Government to withdraw its troops from some areas in 2020.
The state Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, said the police alone could not address insecurity in the country.
The commissioner, who spoke on behalf of the state Governor, Bello Matawalle, said the insecurity situation in the country needed collective efforts of not only the security personnel but other Nigerians.
He stated, “Although we are able to reduce banditry in our state through dialogue and reconciliation, we still want the military to be in our midst in case of any unforeseen circumstance”.
Dauran said the military’s Operation ‘Hadarin Daji’ had contributed to the restoration of peace in many parts of the state.
The Governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, in his reaction to the withdrawal of troops, urged the Federal Government to reconsider the decision.
The spokesperson for the governor, Dan Abu, stated that the efforts of the troops in restoring peace in the state could be thwarted if the soldiers were withdrawn.
Abu said, “First of all, we are grateful for the good job they have done recently, especially since they intervened in the crisis in Southern Taraba and some other places in the state.
“Their presence has been very helpful. It has calmed down the crisis and we have been able to achieve relative peace as a result of their presence. For that reason, we are very grateful.
“But we believe that the withdrawal is premature because although there is relative peace now, there is a need for that peace to be sustained and their presence will go a long way in helping the sustenance of peace that has been achieved so far.”
Ishaku’s spokesman appealed to the Federal Government, saying the security in the state should not be left to the police alone.
According to him, the preference of the state government is a joint effort involving all the security agencies.
He added, “They (police) can do a lot, but they may not be able to do as much unless they combine their efforts with those of the military. We would plead that the government tarry a while for peace to actually reign and become sustainable before we can talk about withdrawal.
“The police are doing their best too but we know that the military has the upper hand in terms of being able to curtail crises of the magnitude that we suffered in that place, especially those involving herdsmen attacks and killings.”
