Former Army Intelligence Officer, Colonel Hassan Stan-Labo (rtd) has asked the Federal Government to deploy drones in the fight against insecurity across the country.
Nigeria has been grappling with a series of security challenges ranging from banditry to terrorism, kidnappings, militancy, calls for secession among others.
In the North-West, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi, have witnessed incessant attacks by terror groups.
Hundreds of people have been killed or kidnapped in Katsina this year with thousands more displaced from their homes.
But speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Stan-Labo said technology is not playing the needed role in the North-East.
“What are drones for Christ’s sake? By now, these things should be everywhere. I wonder what is really holding us back from taking some of these steps. Today we have fantastic drones in the market that will carry out surveillance capabilities,” he said.
“All you need do is to sit at an operations room, give out the command, pressing the buttons and the drones will be busy doing all the jobs, sending in results and so on. By now we should be engaging drones.”
The retired army officer also called for more welfare packages for servicemen, saying lucrative salaries would boost the morale of the armed forces.
In addition, he wants the government to consider the plights of officers who put in much effort serving the country only to be abandoned upon retirement.
According to him, the current administration has not done much to enhance manpower in the nation’s security architecture.
“Why are we still delaying whatever we need to do concerning the enhancement of manpower within the security sector looking at the armed forces and even the police?
“I have not yet seen a reasonable level of urgency being exerted by this government to see that we enhance on manpower. Manpower has become a major problem with us in the military, likewise the police,” he added.
