ADC presidential candidate, Kachikwu, proffers solution to end terrorism, insurgency

Dumebi Kachikwu, presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Wednesday, urged the Federal Government to increase military recruitment as part of efforts to combat insecurity in Nigeria.

Kachikwu offered the counsel during an interview with Politics Today on Channels Television while noting that there were numerous security issues facing the nation.

“The whole country is at war. We have large areas of Nigeria that we now call ungoverned spaces. So, this military is severely challenged and they don’t have enough at this point,” he said.

“So, we have the Civil Defence and the police who are trained in the art of bearing arms but they are not trained the way soldiers are trained. So, we need to give them strategic training for a month or two for them to get to the point where they can react like soldiers and join that effort.

“If we have 200,000 people join this war, on multi-war fronts, we would chase these people out. But we must understand that this war has been sustained for over a decade now. This is short-term. So, in the medium term, we must start recruiting massively. It takes about seven months to get a civilian to be a soldier, and another two to three years in the art of warfare – bearing different arms and what have you. So, we must start recruiting to get to the point of readiness but we are not doing this.”

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According to the ADC candidate, “those who are at the war front, who assume that the country will be solidly behind them” do not receive such support from the federal government.

“Last year we spent a lot of money buying armament – serious equipment – but you must understand that equipment needs to be operated. It needs professional expenses.”

“So, the military is seriously challenged,” Kachikwu opined.

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