The Senate Committee on Defence and Army on Wednesday passed a resolution directing the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Kenneth Minimah to relocate his office to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital in order to step up the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency.

The resolution followed the massacre of about
50 students of Federal Government College in
Yobe State on Tuesday by the insurgents.
The development came just as the Senate
Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba and the Chairman,
Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology,
Senator Bukola Saraki, in separate statements,
described the perpetrators of the massacre as
“bunch of animals.”
The Defence Committee passed the resolution
when the Chief of Army Staff led top officers to
the upper chamber on 2014 Budget defence .
The issue of Yobe massacre was raised by a
member of the committee, Senator Babafemi
Ojudu through a point of order predicated on
orders 42 and 102 of the Senate standing rules.
The Committee in a two-page statement
containing the resolutions, explained that, it
came up with the decison after they engaged in
a two-hour brainstorming session with the
Army chief on the way forward out of the Boko
Haram menace in the North Eastern part of the
country.
It directed the Chief of Army Staff to relocate
his office temporarily to the 7th Division of
Nigerian Army in Maiduguri for urgent and
appropriate steps to quell the insurgents’
repeated attacks in the area.
The Committee also directed the Nigerian Army
under Minimah to re-strategise on possible new
ways of curbing Boko Haram excesses in Yobe,
Borno and Adamawa states by mobilising all
available military resources in fighting the
insurgents.
The statement reads in part: “The Senate
Committee on Defence and Army condemned
the atrocity being unleashed by the Boko Haram
element on innocent citizens of Nigeria and in
particular the Tuesday massacre of students of
Federal Government College Buni Yadi in Yobe
State where scores of Students were gruesomely
killed.
“The Committee has by this, issued a directive
that the Chief of Army Staff take the following
actions (a), Re-strategise on possible new ways
of curbing these excesses, (b) mobilise all
available military resources and face the
insurgencies., relocate your office to Maiduguri
for urgent actions to curtail the repeated attacks
of the insurgents on innocent Nigerians.”
The Committee led by Senator George Sekibo,
also said all Schools and Health Institutions
should also be provided with special security to
prevent repeat of the senseless attacks and
killings of the innocent ones.
It gave express approval to the 2014 budget of
the Nigerian Army, and told the Army Chief that
what was of utmost priority to it now was
quelling the killing spree going on in the North
East through Boko Haram insurgency and not
the budget details.
The committee further noted that “No one goes
to the town square to dance when there is fire”,
hence it will take a tour of the troubled area
upon resumption of the Senate for plenary as
from March 11.
It also called on President Jonathan to rise up to
the challenge by mobilizing resources for the
Armed Forces to fight the war against
insurgents decisively.