The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has lamented that the budget allocated for the procurement of modern equipment to fight the war against insurgents in the country is too small.
Ndume, in Abuja on Sunday, stressed that the country was spending a lot of money on the Armed Forces, but lamented that enough funds were not being given for the procurement of modern equipment to fight the war.
“I have been crying out that the budget every year for the Procurement of arms and ammunition is too small.
“When you spend N500bn on the Army but spend less than N30bn goes to procurement of arms and ammunition. It is just as if you are paying labourers without giving them the necessary tools to work with.
“As for the $1bn taken from the excess crude account, the House of Representatives is already probing it but the truth of the matter is that we have not seen the reception or the deployment of the new equipment.”
The senator commended the joint task force (JTF) comprising soldiers, police and some civilian volunteers for their gallantry display when they were attacked by Boko Haram insurgents three days ago.
He disclosed that the task force neutralised all the terrorists despite being attacked spontaneously but four soldiers were wounded during the exchange of gunfire.
Ndume said, “A joint task force comprising the soldiers, police and the civilian JTF on Friday killed all the insurgents that came to attack Monguno and other adjoining communities.
“I commend the military and other security agencies that contributed to the success of the operation.
“Unfortunately during the attack, about four soldiers sustained injuries while pursuing the insurgents.
“We encourage them to do more in order to bring the issue of insurgency under control.”
