Insecurity persisting because military not performing, says Osun senator

Francis Fadahunsi, senator representing Osun east, says insecurity has persisted because the country’s security chiefs lack the authority to enforce commands.

Fadahunsi, a retired customs officer, spoke on Wednesday during senate plenary on the security situation in the country.

He said President Bola Tinubu has invested heavily in the armed forces, but the military “refuses to even perform”.

“The president has spent a lot of his time and funds on this military, but the same military refuses to yield, to even perform,” he said.

“The command structure of what is happening today, the minister is not a retired general, the minister of state, all of them are businessmen.”

He said the national security adviser is a retired police officer, adding that soldiers do not respect civilians in command roles.

“Do you know what the soldiers call us? They call us bloody civilians,” he said.

“They don’t regard us and that is what is affecting us on ground there now.”

He said the president must review the military command structure so that those in authority “can give orders and be obeyed”.

“We are almost in military rule and we are at war,” he said.

“He should stand as the real commander-in-chief because he listens and he’s spending on them. That is what can really solve the problem.”