Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday commended the military for its conduct in the three northern states where emergency rule had been imposed.
The Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep. Victor Ogene (APGA Anambra) gave the commendation when he briefed newsmen in Abuja.
Ogene had just emerged from a four-hour closed-door meeting of the members with the Service Chiefs.
He said the National Assembly was considering the inclusion of national defence and security institutions in first line charge of the federation account in a bid to tackle national insecurity.
Ogene held that due to the grave security situation across the country, budgetary allocation to the military had not been reduced by the National Assembly.
He stated that based on the report given to the House by the security chiefs, normalcy was gradually returning to Yobe and Adamawa states.
He added that the hours of curfew would soon be reduced in both states.
“Structures of governance are gradually being restored in parts of Borno East including Bama and Gwoza where members of the Boko Haram fundamentalist group had hoisted their flags,” he said.
The deputy chairman said that the major challenge facing security operatives in the affected states was how to differentiate between indigenes of the area and citizens of neighboring Republic of Niger.
He said the gradual return of peace and order to the affected states was due to the fact that the military and other security operatives had dislodged the insurgents from 13 of their camps.
The House had last year passed a resolution inviting President Goodluck Jonathan and the security chiefs to brief the lawmakers on the state of insecurity in the country.
The service chiefs were led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Adm. Ola Ibrahim.
President Goodluck Jonathan declared state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states on May 14 to confront the Boko Haram insurgents.
