The death of farmers in Borno State over the weekend at a time the country is grappling with the humongous challenges in food sufficiency, to say the least, is rather unfortunate.
This is the remarks of Oyewale Femi, President National Association of Online Security Reporters, NAOSRE, who, in a statement on Monday, lamented the death of the innocent and unsuspecting farmers in Borno State.
In the statement, Oyewale pointed out the recent unprecedented rainfalls that over flooded farm lands in some parts of the northern region, a development that would orchestrate food scarcity in the months ahead.
He however, takes serious exception to the calls, in certain quarters, for the sack of service chiefs.
He pointed out that the Nigerian Army is currently over stretched as it engages Boko Haram in north east, tackles bandits in kaduna, kastina, Adamawa, Sokoto, Niger as well as fights Biafra separatist, kidnappers, killer herdsmen, cattle rustlers and cultists.
He said: “The National Association of Online Security Reporters, NAOSRE, has been working closely with operatives in the military and to the best of our understating, the military is not only underfunded but its personnel are over stretched.
“The call for the sack of service chiefs, therefore, is uncalled for. Rather, such efforts should be channeled at persuading the government to increase the funding of the military,” he solicited.
Above all, Oyewale stressed the need for additional enlistment of able young men and women into the military saying that “with a population of over 200 million, the numerical strength of our military personnel, in comparison to the population, is incongruous.”
He added that other military and paramilitary formations should be well equipped to live up to their responsibilities in providing internal security while the army concentrates on border and external intrusion.
