The President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, Dr Ona Ekhomu, has said that the military is not the only solution to the ongoing insurgency in the North-East.
Ekhomu spoke during the 2018 AISSON Security Conference, held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Victoria Island, Lagos.
While speaking on the topic, Boko Haram/ISWA threats: Combating a burgeoning insurgency, the security expert asked the government to be proactive.
He said, “We need a long view to the issues of violence. Because we lack the ability to see ahead, we miss when the red flags are raised. Sometimes, they start as communal clashes and if they are diffused at that level, they have been nipped in the bud. We need to be more proactive than preventive.
“It is wrong that the military is seen as the only solution to the insurgency. When we gather intelligence, what are we doing with it? That is where the action comes in. It is not about killing the head of an insurgency group; that simply makes another leader rise. Rather, their leaders should be used to decimate them and negotiate with them.”
Other security experts at the conference urged the Federal Government to review the nation’s security policy to reflect current security challenges.
The Chairman of the occasion and former Commandant of the National Defence College, Abuja, Rear Admiral Samuel Alade (retd), said that providing peace and security was the most crucial function of any government.
A former GOC 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Ohis Ejemai, said the conference was to make policymakers aware of the need to take proactive measures toward solving security issues, thereby promoting peaceful communities and attracting foreign investment.
