September 17, (THEWILL) – A former minister of defence, Theophilus Danjuma, has charged the Nigerian military to end banditry and killings in the country.
“We must end the banditry and the killings that are going on in our country as soon as possible. The responsibilities are on your shoulders; those of you who are still servicing. No excuses, absolutely no excuses. God bless you. God bless our country”, Danjuma said on Tuesday, in Abuja during the presentation of a book titled: ‘Big Boots: Lessons From My Military Service’, authored by Maj Gen Solomon Udounwa (retd).
He reiterated that the onus rested on serving officers to end the menace of banditry and senseless killings by marauders all over the country.
However, Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, assured Danjuma that the military is committed to restoring peace and security in the country.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria is willing, dedicated and committed to ensuring that we restore peace and security in our own dear country. We shall not be deterred. I want to assure you that we have learnt so much from your records. We cannot afford to fail and we will not fail”, Gen Musa assured.
Nigeria’s North-West and North Central geopolitical zones have been a hotbed of bandits.
In 2022, Danjuma, who blamed insecurity in the country on government’s failure, had said the mission of the bandits is to re-colonise Nigeria.
Previously in 2018, he accused the army and other security agencies of colluding with killers to attack Nigerians. He had accused the army of “bias”, saying it had failed in its responsibility of securing the country from attacks.
“The armed forces are not neutral. They collude with the armed bandits. They kill people, kill Nigerians. They facilitate their movements, they cover them. If you depend on the armed forces to stop the killings you will all die one by one”, Danjuma said.
