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| Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade |
The Federal Government has given the armed forces and other security agencies the nod to embark on mass recruitment. It was gathered in Abuja on Sunday that the directive was to give fillip to the war against terrorism in the country.
PUNCH learnt that those who attended the expanded National Security Council meeting in Abuja on last Thursday emphasised the need for the recruitment.
A highly placed military source told PUNCH that President Goodluck Jonathan issued the directive for more recruitment into the army in March after the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Kenneth Minimah, had briefed him about the operations of the army.
The source, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the army did not begin the recruitment immediately because of the need to expand training facilities in parts of the country.
It was learnt that the army would commence the recruitment in May 2014.
The source added that because of Boko Haram and other security challenges, the recruitment would now hold twice a year unlike in the past when it was done once.
When PUNCHvcontacted the Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade, he replied, “I am sorry I can’t speak on that without contacting the relevant authorities”. He however promised to speak with one of our correspondents on the issue on Monday (today, Apr. 28).
But a security consultant, Ben Okezie, criticised the planned recruitment, saying it was late in coming. He noted that the process might be hijacked by politicians who were always waiting with a list of candidates.
Okezie said the government should rather recruit ex-service men and other retired security officers into the army, stressing that the nation could not afford to wait for the time it would take to train the fresh recruit while the insurgency rages on.
He said:
This government is like a patient in the hospital whose psyche is disturbed by the drugs given to him. How can government recruit civilians into the Army? How long will it take to train them with many northern youths willing to join Boko Haram?
Whenever there is recruitment, politicians will bring a long list of thugs and those they want to use during elections. Is this not what happened in the Niger Delta during the Amnesty programme?
Recruiting civilians into the Army now is like going to the World Cup and you are now going to the village to recruit footballers. Boko Haram has trained its fighters long ago.
Okezie advised the government to constitute a special operation task force made up of serving and retired security personnel who are indigenes of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states to provide intelligence on Boko Haram, since they are conversant with their states of origin.
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