An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former Secretary-General National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Union (NUPENG), Chief Frank Kokori, has declared that there was nothing wrong in recruiting foreign mercenaries to assist the federal government in the on-going war against terrorists across the country.
Kokoro who noted that terror attacks in the country had reached an alarming and frightening proportion, said recruitment of foreign mercenaries to help combat terrorism is being done by other countries in the world, including the United States.
Said he: “It is nothing unusual, and Nigeria will not be the first country to recruit mercenaries to help fight terrorists. As powerful as the United States is, she recruited foreign mercenaries to help her fight terrorists in Iraq, and in some other countries where her troops were involved in combat against terrorism, and tangible results were achieved. So I don’t see anything wrong or strange if we bring in foreign mercenaries to tackle terrorists. The only difference is that the United States and a host of other European countries who use these foreign mercenaries refer to the highly trained professional fighters as defence contractors instead of mercenaries.”
Kokori who further added that it would not be the first time that such mercenaries would be coming into the country, recalled that mercenaries were recruited by the administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan when insurgents were carrying out deadly bomb attacks in Abuja, and some other parts of the country.
“The arrival of these professional fighters not only changed the tide but helped to bring the alarming situation under control as the insurgents were repelled and chased out of Abuja. Nothing stops President Buhari from taking a similar drastic measure,” he declared.
While saying that Nigerians were tired of excuses and condolence messages from the government whenever terror attacks occur, he said: ”Enough is enough. What Nigerians want from Buhari now is action. He should realise that that the buck stops at his table. What Nigerians want is result.
The killings and destruction by these terrorists has to stop, and if recruiting foreign mercenaries is what will help us to get the result, so be it. These mercenaries can work together with our troops in order to get the desired results. The senseless killings have to stop.”
(Saturday Sun)
