Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State
Houses of Assembly, in Nigeria and Speaker, Borno State House of Assembly,
Abdulkarim Lawan, has said only one local government is yet to be liberated
from the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State. He assured that the December
deadline to rout the Boko Haram insurgents from Nigeria would be met.
Lawan spoke in Ilorin, yesterday, at the Conference of
Speakers of State Houses of Assembly organised to deliberate on a model
administration of criminal justice act. “As of now, only one local government
is yet to be liberated from the clutch of the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno
State. That’s the Abadam, located along border town of Niger Republic.
“Nineteen local governments are now in control of the
military. And the people are gradually returning to their homes in the affected
areas. Military is very serious in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency.
We never experienced the kind of commitment from military before.
“They have driven the Boko Haram to the bush. I am sure
the military is equal to the task and will meet the time line of December 2015
to rout the insurgents by December. The Chief of Army Staff is leading the
military.
“Various local governments captured by Boko Haram have
been recaptured with the federal troops stationed there as they proceed to
other local governments. So, now only Abadam local government is not liberated.
I am sure they are going to liberate every local government in the state,” he
said.
He urged the people of the area to continue to support
the military to “find an end to this madness and unIslamic act. Because Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe states have suffered so much due to this security challenge in
the last six years. Now, we are gradually getting relative peace. So, I advise
the people in all these areas to support the military.”
Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, while
declaring the workshop open, said: “A sound criminal justice system is
imperative for economic growth, political stability and social equilibrium. It
is impossible to have a sound economy without a solid foundation of good laws
that can curb anti-social behaviours and other disruptive tendencies in the
society.
“Additionally, a sound criminal system is a prerequisite
for rule of law which, as you know, is an essential component of good
governance. This is because no modern society can thrive unless there are
strong laws to guide social, economic and political conduct of its citizens.”
“Unless the citizens are aware of and abide by a
robust criminal justice system, the sense of security, peace and lawfulness for
economic and political development will be missing,” Ahmed said. He lauded the
initiative of the speakers of the 36 states of the federation to organize the
workshop saying that, their deliberations would go a long way of fashioning out
way out of dwindling criminal justice in the country.