Boko Haram: Reps ask FG to hire foreign mercenaries to fight insurgents

The House of Representatives has asked the federal government to hire foreign mercenaries to combat Boko Haram insurgents.

The House made the resolution following a motion moved by Abdulkadir Rahis on Wednesday.

Mr Rahis’ motion called on the federal government to re-strategise in the fight against insurgents.

However, Mansur Soro, moved an amendment to the motion, calling on the government to consider foreign paid fighters in the anti-terror war.

This resolution is coming in the wake of a similar call by Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, who during the meeting of the North East Governors Forum recently, called on the federal government to revert to the use of foreign mercenaries.

Mr Zulum had in November 2020 also raised the issue of using foreign paid fighters, a policy that was considered under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

The Jonathan administration had used Specialised Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection, (STTEP), a South African company to combat the insurgents in the North-east.

However, Mr Buhari opposes the policy, describing it as “disgraceful.”

In 2018, Eeben Barlow, the founder of STTEP ,in a Facebook post, revealed how Mr Buhari, as an opposition figure, rejected the use of foreign mercenaries by the then administration.

Mr Barlow in the post condemned the claim by the administration that the deadly group had been ‘technically defeated.’

The motion

Mr Rahis, in his motion, raised alarm on the recent spike in attacks on Maiduguri, particularly the February 23 attacks, which resulted in 16 fatalities.

He noted that the “attack was one of the most daring as the terrorists indiscriminately launched rockets into the city which inflicted mass destruction on the populace.”

The House also resolved to “send a delegation to commiserate with the victims and the Government of Borno State.”

It also urged “the military authorities to re–strategize and take the fight to the Boko Haram enclaves.”