Senator Ali Ndume, former Senate Leader and representative of Borno South, has called on President Bola Tinubu’s administration to translate its declaration of a security emergency into tangible results, following fresh deadly attacks by insurgents in Borno State.

Ndume issued the appeal over the weekend as outrage grew over the assault on Ngoshe community in Gwoza Local Government Area last Wednesday. Suspected Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters reportedly coordinated the operation, overrunning a military base operated by the 82 Division Task Force Battalion before attacking the village and a nearby Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.

The attackers killed several soldiers, the town’s Chief Imam, and some community elders, while abducting more than 100 women and children.

Ndume, a native of the affected region, pressed the federal government to ramp up military offensives against insurgent strongholds, including the Lake Chad basin, Sambisa Forest, and the Mandara Mountains. He stressed that these areas serve as launchpads for coordinated strikes and must be targeted with sustained clearance operations to destroy terrorist camps and supply lines.

“The government must walk the talk on the emergency declaration by launching coordinated and sustained attacks on insurgent targets, especially in the North-East,” Ndume stated. “Consistent clearance operations are needed in Lake Chad, Sambisa Forest, and the Mandara Mountains, as the recent attacks were highly coordinated by the insurgents operating from the Mandara Mountains with support from Sambisa and Lake Chad fighters.”

To enhance transparency and response, Ndume recommended establishing a dedicated security situation room at the Presidential Villa for regular briefings to Nigerians on progress against insurgency and banditry.

“Since the President has declared a state of emergency on security, he should set up a situation room in the Villa to brief Nigerians directly from time to time,” he said.

He also proposed creating Air Component Centres across Nigeria’s three northern geopolitical zones, equipped with attack helicopters for rapid deployment against emerging threats.

While praising the military’s eventual intervention in Ngoshe, Ndume criticized the delayed response and called for greater operational readiness. He reiterated his longstanding push to frontload budgets for security agencies, enabling faster procurement of arms and ammunition to counter the insurgents’ increasingly sophisticated weaponry.

“The Nigerian Army’s budget is too small relative to the national budget,” he noted. “It should be frontloaded to speed up equipment acquisition.”

If immediate purchase of attack helicopters proves challenging, Ndume suggested the government consider leasing them to bolster operations in high-risk areas.