ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The chairman, North-West chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop David Bakare has urged the Federal Government to reserve 10 per cent of the looted funds recovered from the arms deal for the education and other needs of the families and next of kin (NOK) of the military personnel who died in the course of the counter-terrorism operations against Boko Harm in the North East.
Bakare made this call on Sunday at the inter-denominational church service in National Christian Centre, Abuja, as part of activities to mark the 2016 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration (AFRDC).
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According to him, the efforts of the arrest, trial and possible jailing of the suspects by the Federal Government through the relevant anti-graft and security agencies is not enough to assuage the sufferings of the NOKs of the officers and soldiers who died defending the country.
He urged the government to go further to recover the alleged looted funds and ensure that part of it are reserved for compensating the families of the deceased military personnel.
He said: “I want us to know that there is a God that knows every secret did, He knows the corrupt people, so if nobody will do something about the situation, God will do something at the appointed time because He is bigger than us all.
“I want to tell us today that there is a reward that our soldiers in the battle front desire, there is a reward that our fallen heroes deserve and what they deserve is not for them to die and their children to die with them, what they deserve is not to die for our country and their children cannot feed again.
“What I want us to understand from today’s celebration is that those who labour and die for our nation deserve honour and care. I believe if we find those who have stolen our wealth, it is not enough to take them to EFCC, it is not enough to jail them, 10 per cent of every stolen money should be used to take care of the families of our fallen heroes.
“Today we are talking about the arms deal scandal and we hear that some people are returning money, that money was meant to buy arms. If it was not used for that purpose and some soldiers lost their lives as a result of the act then their children should be taken care of from the money recovered. The authorities should take part of that money and give scholarships and free education to the children or family of every soldier that lost his or her life as a result of the insurgency in the North East.”
Speaking further, Bakare advised the government and other stakeholders to show more appreciation for the contributions of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the unity and peace of Nigeria.
He warned that the country is taking unnecessary risk by playing with the welfare of the soldiers, and called that major streets should be named after them in symbolic honour of their sterling contributions to the country.
“How do you train a soldier to kill and to die for our country and give him very little compensation for their service. Our soldiers should get a special payment.
“If we do not take care of our soldiers then we are taking a very terrible risk because they will be exposed to temptations from our enemies. We must do the right things because if God decides to do what we have refused to do as leaders then it is going to be disastrous because there will anarchy and calamity in the land, we have the option of avoid God’s wrath by making sure that something is done for the families of those who have laid down their lives for our country,” he warned.
In addition to the 10 per cent reserved from the proceeds of the Arms deal loot, Bakare said, I want those concerned to go to the streets of Abuja and remove all those people’s names and put the name of a soldier who died having being married one month after and died childless.
According to the Clergy, “name a street after that soldier, others will be happy to serve this country”.
“Where is the honour, if we remember our fallen heroes, our soldiers with such treatments, I believe that God is calling on us all to do a little more for our soldiers still serving and those who have fallen in the service of our fatherland,” he added.
