Following the killings of 30 persons and destruction of properties, last Sunday night by Boko Haram insurgents who invaded Auno, a village which is 20 kilometres from Borno State capital, Maiduguri, the Senate, yesterday, condemned in very strong terms, the dastardly act perpetuated by the insurgents, saying that people must be held responsible if they fail to effectively carry out their responsibilities to nip in the bud, the security challenges in the country.
Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja, President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, said that the time has come for Nigeria to ensure that governance is done as business, adding that when one is engaged by the government and failed to give the authority a target and cannot explain why reasonably why he failed, that person must be sent packing.
Lawan spoke after deliberation on a Point of Order by Senator Kassim Shettima, All Progressives Congress, APC, Borno Central on the invasion of Auno, a village which is 20 Kilometres from Borno State capital, Maiduguri, where over 30 persons were killed.
The President of the Senate said, “I want to assure all of us here that we are on the same page with the executive arm of government and everyone is worried. I believe that we are all agreed that the security architecture as presently constituted and designed is simply not giving the outcome we want and we need. Going forward, we have to find a better structure and architecture for our security to provide the necessary service that we need.
“Time has come for us to ensure that governance is done like it’s business, you employ someone, give the person a target. He accepts on the basis of the fact that he can meet the target. If he doesn’t meet the target and there is no cogent explanation or reasons, why he fails, then he should go.
“When we hold people responsible, they are likely to perform better.”
Meanwhile, the Senate after the debate has urged the military and security agencies to reengineer and or rejig their approach towards fighting insurgency, just as it asked the Federal Government to begin a rehabilitation of the affected communities.
The Upper Chamber has also called on the military operative to launch a base in Auno to intensify efforts in the fight against insurgency in the North-East as well as mandated the defence Headquarters to find out what transpired in Auno.
While the Senate observed a minute silence in honour of those who died, it has also urged the Federal Government to through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to the Ministry Humanitarian Affairs to send relief items to the affected families.