ACF to monitor soldiers in state of emergency zone

THE Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)  has declared readiness to raise a team that would monitor soldiers and ensure that they abide by the rules of engagement in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
This was part of the resolution at the National Executive Council (NEC) of the ACF, in Kaduna, on Thursday.
A communique signed by the deputy national publicity secretary of the ACF, Fati Ibrahim, said the meeting was presided over by its chairman, Alhaji Aliko Mohammed and was attended by delegations from all the states of the North.
After reviewing and discussing recent developments in the country, the ACF took notice of the proclamation of the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by the Federal Government on the grounds that attacks and killings by insurgents and other terrorist groups required massive military response.
“The meeting was concerned that the president appears to have more faith in a military solution, even where evidence from our experiences so far bears no such optimism.
“It is the hope of the ACF, therefore, that the Federal Government does not consider the increased military deployment as a superior option or alternative to the slower and more tedious path of dialogue, negotiation and conciliation.
“Given the dismal history of peace-making campaigns by the military all over the world, dispatching battalion after battalion to the field in the hope of combating insurgents or terrorists sound naive,” the forum said.
The ACF called on the military to avoid the temptation of deploying tactics or adopt measures that would cause increased civilian casualties and bloodshed under the cover of emergency rule.
“They are well advised to involve the local populace in their operational plans, in order to minimise collateral civilian suffering,” the group added.