A top member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Usman Yusuf said the Nigeria Army was acting on its own in the war against terror and they needed to be supervised by civilian authority.
Professor Yusuf who spoke on Arise TV interview, said it was because the army lacked supervision by civilian authority, and it is the reason behind several indiscriminate bombings like the one that claimed 120 lives in Tudub Biri community in Kaduna State last Sunday.
“We don’t see the president hands-on with our security,” said Yusuf.
“Our military is not supervised by civilian authority; they’ve gone rogue, dropping bombs on our people, and they’re not answerable to anybody. In the United States, where we copied the presidential system, the military is subordinate to civilian authority.”
He accused President Bola Tinubu of being lackadaisical with the urgent matter of national security.
“Our president and commander in chief, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, from his words, deeds, and body language, is not interested in security. All he’s interested in is the economy, where the money is, and he’s planted his people. Security, banditry, and others appear irritant to him.
To prevent a further occurrence he called for an independent probe of the drone strike.
. “Whatever the president is planning to do, the military cannot investigate itself. We’ve had several incidents, and there have been no outcomes.
“There should be an independent judicial panel headed by a retired CJN, a former defence chief, traditional leaders, and religious leaders who are interested in protecting the people,” he said.
Meanwhile Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, said the unfortunate incident will not deter the military from stepping up the fight against terror and banditory in the country.
“We are not going to relent in our fight against terrorism because these criminals must be defeated. We are going to continue fighting the criminals till we succeed against banditry and other criminalities in this country.”
