• President approves pay rise for military personnel
• COAS vows to crush B’Haram, ISWAP

Amid the outrage over last week’s killings in Ngoshe community in Borno State and terrorists’ abduction of more than 100 women and children, former Senate leader, Ali Ndume (Borno South), has urged President Bola Tinubu to match his declaration of a security emergency with action.
  
Ndume made the call at the weekend while reacting to the coordinated attacks carried out by insurgents linked to Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
  
Ndume’s call might have moved Tinubu to approve a salary increment for military personnel.
  
Also, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Waidi Shaibu, has reassured that troops under the Joint Task Force in the North-East, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), were firmly managing the security situation in the region while stepping up operations to eliminate remaining fighters of Boko Haram and ISWAP.
  
The insurgents reportedly launched the attack last Wednesday in Ngoshe community, located in Gwoza Local Council of Borno State, killing many soldiers, the chief Imam of the town and some community elders.
  
Reports indicated that the terrorists initially attacked a military base belonging to the 82 Division Task Force Battalion before storming the community and an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.
  
The lawmaker recalled that President Tinubu had in November declared a nationwide security emergency and ordered additional recruitment into the Armed Forces to confront insurgency and banditry.
  
Ndume, whose senatorial district includes the affected community, urged the President to mandate security forces to intensify sustained clearance operations in areas he described as strongholds of insurgents, including the Lake Chad, Sambisa Forest and the Mandara Mountains.
 
According to him, the recent attacks demonstrated a high level of coordination among insurgent groups operating within the region.
  
Ndume added that intelligence suggested the Ngoshe attack was carried out by insurgents operating from the Mandara Mountains with support from fighters from Sambisa Forest and the Lake Chad axis.
  
The senator also urged Tinubu to regularly brief Nigerians on efforts being made to tackle insecurity across the northern regions.
  
“Since the President has declared a state of emergency, he should establish a situation room in his office in the Presidential Villa and use it to brief Nigerians from time to time. Nigerians want to hear directly from him on the progress being made,” he said.
  
He further proposed the establishment of Air Component Centres in the three geo-political zones in the North, with attack helicopters deployed to support ground operations against insurgents.
  
While commending the military for eventually intervening in the Ngoshe attack, though “it came late,” Ndume reiterated his long-standing call for the frontloading of the budgets of security agencies to accelerate the procurement of arms and ammunition.
  
Present allocations to the military, he argued, remain inadequate, in view of the sophisticated weapons reportedly in the hands of terrorist groups. 
  
Ndume added that where immediate procurement of attack helicopters may not be feasible, the Federal Government should consider hiring them for deployment to security flashpoints across the country.

Tinubu announced the pay rise during an interfaith breaking of fast with Service Chiefs at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
  
He assured that the welfare and accommodation challenges faced by military personnel would be adequately addressed by his administration. 
  
“I have listened to the COAS, and the recent approvals given to the Army are well placed. My duty is to thank all of you on behalf of a grateful nation, knowing well that many times you are without your families, some are facing attacks from bandits and terrorists.
   
“We will work hard together, whether in the office or in the medical section, you have been working to serve the country and protect our sovereignty. This nation will always be grateful to you, and your sufferings will not be in vain, I can assure you,” he said.

Shaibu, after a closed-door meeting in Maiduguri at the weekend with Theatre Commander, Maj-Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar, alongside other senior military officers at the 7 Division Headquarters, Maimalari Cantonment, said field commanders provided detailed updates on ongoing operations, achievements recorded so far, and immediate operational requirements.
  
The visit formed part of a day-long operational assessment by the army chief amid renewed attacks targeting military formations and civilian communities in parts of the North-East region.
  
“I am here on a routine operational visit. The meeting has given me the opportunity to hear directly from troops on the frontline about their challenges and requirements so that they can be addressed promptly,” he said.
  
Meanwhile, Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, has expressed condolences to the families of victims who lost their lives in recent attacks across several communities.
  
The affected areas include Ngoshe, Konduga, Mainok, Jakana and Marte, where insurgents reportedly carried out a series of assaults.