Boko Haram: Mark Calls for Full Scale War

Senator David Mark.

Senate President David Mark Tuesday said he had changed his position on previous calls for dialogue with Boko Haram, adding that it was time to confront the insurgents with a full scale war.

Mark, who made this declaration after a debate on the abduction of 234 girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, said given the absurdity demonstrated by the insurgents in recent times, they should be the ones begging for dialogue when the battle is hot.

His position coincided with the protest by parents of the yet-to-be-found 181 girls, who stormed the National Assembly yesterday, demanding the return of their daughters.

The senate president described yesterday’s motion as the most emotional issue ever debated since his membership of the Senate in 1999.

“I have spent many years in the Senate here and I'm not sure there is any motion that has had so much emotional touch as this one. I think Ndume just managed to hold himself and the three senators who spoke also. I think the issue is not so much as to whether Boko Haram is even in the country now or not, but that 234 girls could disappear and up till now, none has been rescued. The 53 who are back escaped on their own.

“The story that Ndume narrated about soldiers going in the wrong direction when they got the information is a clear indication of what we are in for. The people we are dealing with are well trained. They are not terrorists, they are insurgents.

“All along, we have been reactive; if we are not proactive, we cannot deal with it. I have been in the forefront of saying we must dialogue with them but I think we must take the battle to a level where they must beg for dialogue. We cannot do this unless the locals on the ground there cooperate with members of the armed forces,” he said.

Earlier, while welcoming his colleagues back after the Easter break, Mark had condemned the attempts by some persons or groups to resort to name calling over the matter, saying the matter at stake required the cooperation of all and was not an opportunity by any group or individuals to score cheap political points.