The House of Representatives has advised the Federal Government to consider the use of mercenary soldiers to fight insurgency and banditry.
The suggestion was contained in the recommendations of its security summit submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
Parts of the resolutions read: “Give immediate consideration to the use of Private Defence Contractors for targeted security operations to combat insurgency and terrorism especially and use all means at its disposal to require the creation of a protocol that will compel intelligence (as a matter of necessity) sharing among all security agencies.
“Encourage the Intelligence Agencies (working with the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Defence Staff to initiate a screening and vetting program of all frontline officers of the Nigerian military to fish out moles and double-agents who have so far compromised most efforts at combating insecurity and to win the war against insurgents and terrorists.
“Establish and strengthen a National Crisis Centre (NCC) within the Nigerian Police which will be the national coordinating centre for all civil security response actions and monitoring of resolutions of such with monthly reporting on all incidents as well as serving as a central place for any Nigerian to report major security incidents.”
They urged the government to consider the establishment of an operational/ specialised unit within the Police Force to drive all the change initiatives (based on a Presidential Policing Reform Roadmap) from within the institution.
The lawmakers also supported the creation of local security committees in all the 774 local government areas.
