Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase, on Wednesday claimed that Boko Haram operatives were at one point identified on the Nigerian Army recruitment roster. He warned that such breaches are severely weakening the nation’s security framework.
Addressing a special plenary session convened to assess the country’s security challenges, Wase noted that the former Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Muktar Betara, could corroborate the claim.
“This exposes serious weaknesses in our recruitment procedures, which have allowed individuals with criminal affiliations to infiltrate critical security institutions,” Wase stated.
Speaking emotionally, Wase, who lost both a brother and a cousin to terrorist attacks, said the breach helps explain why armed groups continue to operate with impunity across parts of Nigeria.
He added that insecurity has reached such a level that even his surviving younger brother pleaded for help to be relocated from their community.
He said: “My brother, former chairman of defense, and my very good friend, Betara, will bear with me that we have moments in when in the process of recruitment, we found in the list names of criminals. Boko Haram members were found in the list of Army.
“There has to be a thorough way of ensuring that when we are recruiting, those of us who are politicians should recommend people of good character and integrity. That’s the only way we can solve this problem. You find a criminal in the system, and before you know it, whatever you do, you cannot have the problem resolved. So we must change the system and way of our recruitment.
“Yes, as politicians, it’s good to recommend. This is what we are here for. But when you are recommending, please recommend people of integrity, people that will meet standards and ensure that they give the best access to our country.”
Wase further warned that part of the reason Nigeria’s security crisis endures is that certain individuals profit from the disorder, allowing criminal groups to move in convoys and operate unchecked.
He also decried the politicisation of indigeneship and citizenship as a significant source of national division, calling for constitutional reforms to address the issue.
Stating the severity of the security situation, Wase said kidnapping has become routine, with roughly N5 billion reportedly paid in ransom in a single year, and over 30,000 lives lost in Boko Haram-related attacks over time.
He urged legislators to adopt a comprehensive strategy, stressing that the scale of insecurity in Nigeria is graver than widely perceived and demands immediate, coordinated action.
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