The House of Representatives has approved the implementation of Operation Positive Identification (OPI) an initiative of the Nigerian Army aimed at smoking out fleeing terrorists in the country.
This followed the adoption of the recommendations made by the Committee on Army after interfacing with the army on the matter. The report was presented by the Chairman, House Committee on Army, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas (APC Adamawa) at the Committee of the Whole on Thursday in Abuja.
Namdas recalled that the committee was mandated on Nov. 13, to interface with the Army on the implementation of OPI following the public outcry that trailed the announcement of the initiative. He said that the army explained that the operation had begun in the North East which led to the arrests of commanders and Boko Haram insurgents in the zone.
Namdas said that the army further explained that based incredible intelligence, terrorists were fleeing into other zones to escape the bombardment in the North East, hence the need to extend the operation to other parts of the county.
The house recommended that the Army can continue with the operation but should be done in collaboration with other relevant security agencies such as the Nigerian Immigration Service, the police and other stakeholders.
The green chamber approved approve that a Joint Intelligence and MonitoringTeam should be set up by the agencies involved.
The house said that team would checkmate possible abuse of the exercise, such as extortion and assault on the people.
The lower chambers said that the Army should regularly brief the Committee on Army for proper assessment of the exercise.
The lawmakers recommended that the Nigerian Army should disengage from the areas they have successfully completed operations and allow the police to consolidate on the gains.
The parliament said serious and urgent attentions should be given to the police, in the area of training and retraining so as to equip them to curtail future insurrection or violence that may occur.
