On Tuesday, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, said that Simon Ekpa’s arrest in Finland has significantly reduced tension in the South East.
The defence chief stated this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Defence for the 2025 budget defence session.
According to him, Ekpa’s arrest and the Defence Headquarters’ setting up Operation Udoka restored the region’s peace.
Musa said, “The arrest of Simon Ekpa has dramatically reduced the tension. In addition, with Operation Udoka, we’re doing that, picking up most of the leadership there, taking them out, and ensuring that the place is peaceful.
“The sit-at-home on Mondays is gradually diminishing. We’re also working with the political leaders there because we understand, as I always said, that we need local support because, without it, it’s complicated. The terrain is very challenging, so we need to work together. It is improving.
“Like we always appeal for Nigerians to understand that they have to take ownership of their armed forces, they have to take ownership of the security challenges we face. It’s not a challenge for the armed forces alone or security agencies; it’s everybody’s responsibility to do.
“And we’re happy that we’re beginning to get that support from everywhere. Human intelligence information is coming, it’s flowing quite well, and we are taking adequate action, and that’s why we see things are improving.
“What we have done is that we have established and enhanced the kinetic efforts for the three services for our operations. We have the Delta Safe in the South-South for oil theft and militia. At least for the first time now, we have reached our OPEC oil quota for Nigeria and intend to do more.
“Our target is to hit 2.2 million barrels a day for Nigeria. It’s not something that we can also do alone. We also need the other stakeholders in the oil industry to play their roles. We are doing more and providing more security. We are close to 2 million barrels per day. We intend to do more. This year, we want to intensify our operations so that we take out.
“We have formed groups that are discussing with the locals. And we have found that that discussion has helped a lot. So, we have religious and cultural leaders, and every stakeholder is also part of them. We realise that if we carry everybody along, it makes it a lot easier. As we said, the best general does not need to shoot. If you can solve the problem without firing it, it is better.
“So that by the time we do that, those who are willing to move, we move them out, and those who are unwilling, then we go after them. However, the kinetic and the non-kinetic must continue to go hand in hand. And it is working very well,” he said.
While calling for the improvement of border management to address the problem of smuggling, the four-star general said: “We have rescued several children being trafficked across Nigeria to other countries. And then trafficking of drugs, small arms, light weapons.
“We’re working in tandem with the Customs. When we make such arrests, we call either the NDLEA or the Customs and hand them over to them. So these are extra things that we’re doing.
“Now, what is our other concern? Troops’ welfare. We know generally the economy, everybody is having the heat. And we’re no more different. So we’re looking at improving the welfare of our troops, the RCA, Ration Cash Allowance. We’re still struggling at less than N2,000 per soldier per head to feed.
“We’re happy that Mr. President has recently increased the salaries to some extent of the junior class, which is the junior grade of personnel, which has also enhanced their ability. We know the country is going through so much, and it’s not only the military that needs support, but I think we want to get more and can do more.
“We also need accommodation. Every year, we recruit almost 25,000 for all the services. And those going on retirement every year are not up to 5,000. So you see, we’re getting nearly 20,000 into the system. The issue of new barracks, construction, old barracks, and renovation are issues we have to address because now that we’re beginning to get peace.
“Gradually, we’re going to return to the barracks. We don’t want to return to barracks, and then we’ll start living in tents or batches like before. So we must be able to work ahead to establish new barracks and then carry out renovation.”
The committee’s chairman, Hon Babajimi Benson, assured lawmakers that their duty as people’s representatives was to ensure that every Naira was judiciously spent to strengthen the Air Force’s operational capacity and deliver tangible results.
“We must leverage intelligence, technology, and best practices to neutralise emerging threats and safeguard our citizens. As we deliberate on the 2025 budget, I urge all defence agencies to prioritise strategic initiatives that align with national security objectives,” he said.
The committee also resolved to increase the budgetary provision of the Ministry of Defence to sustain the success being recorded in the fight against insecurity in the country.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Hon. Philip Agbese, who commended the military for their efforts when the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, appeared to defend the Ministry’s budget for 2025.
Matawale said the sum of N50 billion allocated for the Ministry in the 2025 budget was grossly inadequate and appealed for an upward review.
He said, “We have some challenges. One is an inadequate budgetary provision. The headquarters and civilian personnel unit are unable to meet their obligations, resulting in the accumulation of debt on services and staff entitlement.
“We have non-payment and accumulated bills for group life insurance, which is very important. Our critical issues are non-payment and accumulated bills of group life insurance for military personnel. I requested the committee to consider maybe the sum of N20 billion as additional funds to pay families of deceased military personnel. That is one of our challenges.
“Mr Chairman, if you look at the budget of 2024, most of the barracks, the allocation we met is zero. How do we expect the military personnel to perform while their living standard is inadequate? For all the provisions we made, the allocation in 2024 is zero. And these are the people that we expect them to perform magic.”
