Federal Government yesterday, gave an insight into President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for $1billion foreign loan to fight terrorism in the country.
The government said the decision to take the loan was not due to dearth of funds to prosecute the war against insurgency, declaring that the money was to equip the military with more sophisticated weapons to ease their operations.
President Jonathan had on Wednesday, in a letter to the National Assembly, sought its approval of the loan to acquire equipment and train military fighting personnel fighting insurgency in the country.
Since the President made the request, there have been insinuations in certain quarters that the Federal Government is broke and needs foreign assistance to check the menace of Boko Haram sect.
Addressing journalists at the National Information Centre in Abuja yesterday, its Coordinator, Mr. Mike Omeri, said that Nigeria has enough resources to prosecute any threat of terrorism.
According to Omeri, the $1billion loan is meant to help the government reinforce and reequip the armouries of the military and other security forces.
President Jonathan in the letter to National Assembly, said: “You are no doubt cognizant of the ongoing and serious security challenges which the nation is facing, as typified by the Boko Haram terrorist threat. This is an issue that we have discussed at various times. I would like to bring to your attention the urgent need to upgrade the equipment, training and logistics of our Armed Forces and Security Services to enable them more forcefully to confront this serious threat. For this reason, I seek the concurrence of the National Assembly for external borrowing of not more than $1billion, including government-to-government arrangements for this upgrade.”
Omeri, who also is the Director-General of National Orientation Agency, NOA, urged governments across the world to guide against breeding terrorists in their homelands.
On the extradited co-mastermind of Nyanya Motor Park bombing on April 14, 2014, Sadiq Ogwuche, Omeri said the fugitive would be tried according to Nigerian laws.
“The laws of the land are enough to try Ogwuche and other accomplices for terrorism. In some cases local laws supersede those of international laws. On Abubakar Rufai Tsiga (mastermind of the blast), security agencies are doing everything possible to apprehend him. As far as the country is concerned, the suspect is still a wanted man,” he said.
Source: Nigerian Pilot
