A former Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, says some state governments are enabling terrorist operations by engaging with armed groups and failing to take decisive action against them.
Akinyemi made this accusation on Wednesday, in an interview on Arise Television monitored by DAILY POST
He demanded sweeping security measures including large scale military recruitment, emergency rule, military tribunals and the suspension of constitutional immunity for governors.
The elder statesman also threw his weight behind the call for immediate expansion of the Nigerian armed forces, stating that current troop numbers are inadequate to confront widespread insecurity.
“Yes. I depend on the news that you provide. And you see terrorists openly with their guns coming into the city to have weddings… They are entertained by government officials.
“You want to tell me that a governor who is the chief security officer of a state does not know that terrorists are operating in his state.
“I agree with the need for large-scale recruitment to expand the Nigerian armed forces. The soldiers that are there now, they are overstretched… So we need to address these shortcomings,” he said.