As he received the mantle from President Goodluck Jonathan as Chairman, Terror Victims Support Fund Committee, former Minister of Defense, Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, yesterday declared that the war against terror must be won immediately.
Gen. Danjuma, who assured Nigerians that the committee would carry out its mandate diligently, told President Jonathan that the time had come for the insurgents to be confronted head-on.
According to him, the insurgents appear to be having the upper hand as they pick and choose where to strike and even hold positions and displace people.
He stated that the war against terrorism must be won immediately as it has been allowed for too long.
Gen. Danjuma said: “This war must be brought to an end. We must win this war immediately; it is taking too long. I called it civil war when it began but people say it is insurgency. The insurgents appear to be having an upper hand at this very moment. They pick and choose where to strike; they are even holding positions and displacing us. We must win this war Mr. President and we must do so immediately.”
The committee is setup by the Federal Government to raise the sum of N30billion for a comprehensive care package for victims of insurgency across the country.
The Federal Government will contribute N10billion to the fund overtime while state governments are also expected to jointly raise another N10billion. The third tranche of N10billion will be generated by the private sector and other concerned stakeholders.
At the inauguration of the Committee at the State House Council Chambers, shortly before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council, FEC meeting, President Jonathan expressed regret over the avoidable destruction by Boko Haram insurgency.
He said the inauguration of the committee was not one of those assignments he would love to carry out as President.
The President, however, vowed that nothing would be spared to fish out all terrorists operating in Nigeria.
The President said that year 2009 appeared to be a tragic turning point in Nigeria as Boko Haram, “an assemblage of heartless individuals, took it upon itself to bring evil upon the country,” stressing that they have in their mission, turned women to widows and reduced children to orphans, killed, maimed and struck fear into law-abiding citizens.
According to him, the country is facing the reality that it is confronted with individuals whose minds have been so twisted and tutored to believe they are doing God a service by their actions.
He stated that evil would never prevail over good, noting that the bloods being wasted daily by those who take advantage of the vulnerability of the people to spread extremist doctrines and recruit them for murderous errands are enemies of humanity.
“We appreciate the support we are getting from foreign countries and the cooperation we are getting from our neighbours. This has given us more fillip and we are confident that the days of Boko Haram are numbered. It is now just a matter of time,” he said.
The President noted that those who have been victims of terrorism in the country need comfort and succour, saying:”We cannot replace the life of a child that has been snuffed out. We cannot replace the lives of men and women who have been killed. We cannot return broken limbs to their original state. We cannot take away the trauma that people have been put through.”
While Mr. Fola Adeola would serve as the Committee’s Vice Chairman, other members are: Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, Mr. Cosmas Maduka, Mr. Jim Ovia, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, Alhaji Abdulsamad I. Rabiu, Alhaji Sani Dauda, Mr. Wale Tinubu and Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Alhaji Sani Sidi,
Others are Air Vice Marshal Tony Omenyi (representing Defence Headquarters), Commissioner of Police, Salisu Fagge, representing the Nigeria Police Force, Mr. Sayana Yusuf, representing the Department of State Security Services, Chief Uche Secondus, PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Alhaji Tijani Tunsah, APC Deputy National Chairman (North), representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, representative of Jamaatul Nasril Islam, JNI and Mrs. Nkechi Mba, representing the National Council of Women Societies.
Also on the committee are Prof. Ben Angwe, Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, representative of the United Nations, UN, representative of the Department for International Development, DFID, representative of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, representative of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, representing the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, and two representatives of local civil society/youth groups (a male and a female).
The mandate of the committee include:
•To identify sources and ways of raising sustainable funding to support victims of terror activities;
• To develop appropriate strategies for the fund raising;
•To ascertain the persons, communities, facilities and economic assets affected by terror activities;
•To assess and determine the appropriate support required in each case;
•To manage, disburse and/or administer support to the victims as appropriate;
• To address related challenges as may be appropriate;
• To advise Government on other matter(s) necessary or incidental to support victims of terror activities.