FORMER DEPUTY SPEAKER, AHMAD IDRIS WASE, RAISES ALARM OVER ALLEGED DISCOVERY OF BOKO HARAM NAMES IN NIGERIAN ARMY RECRUITMENT LIST, WARNS OF DEEPENING SECURITY INFILTRATION

Political tension heightened at the National Assembly on Wednesday as former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase, made a startling disclosure during a special plenary session convened to assess Nigeria’s worsening security crisis. Wase alleged that names of Boko Haram members were once found on the Nigerian Army recruitment list, a revelation he said underscores the dangerous infiltration of the country’s security architecture.

Addressing lawmakers in the packed chamber, Wase said that former Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Muktar Betara, could corroborate the incident, stressing that the discovery exposed serious loopholes in Nigeria’s recruitment processes.

According to him, these systemic flaws have enabled individuals with criminal histories to gain access into sensitive security institutions.

Wase, who emotionally recounted his personal losses, the killing of both a brother and a cousin by terrorists told the House that such infiltration may explain why criminal networks continue to operate with ease in several regions. He revealed that insecurity has become so overwhelming in his home area that his surviving younger brother pleaded for assistance to relocate from their community.

He said: “My brother, former chairman of defense, and my very good friend, Betara, will bear with me that we have moments in when in the process of recruitment, we found in the list names of criminals. Boko Haram members were found in the list of Army.

“There has to be a thorough way of ensuring that when we are recruiting, those of us who are politicians should recommend people of good character and integrity. That’s the only way we can solve this problem. You find a criminal in the system, and before you know it, whatever you do, you cannot have the problem resolved. So we must change the system and way of our recruitment.

Yes, as politicians, it’s good to recommend. This is what we are here for. But when you are recommending, please recommend people of integrity, people that will meet standards and ensure that they give the best access to our country.”

Wase warned that Nigeria’s security woes persist partly because some individuals profit from chaos, enabling criminals to move in convoys and act with shocking impunity. He lamented the harmful politicisation of indigeneship and citizenship, issues he described as central to the country’s deepening divisions and called for constitutional reforms to address them.

Highlighting the human and economic toll of insecurity, he noted that kidnapping has become a daily nightmare, with an estimated ₦5 billion reportedly paid as ransom within a single year. He also reminded the House that more than 30,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram-related violence over the years.

The former Deputy Speaker urged his colleagues to adopt a holistic and non-partisan approach to confronting the escalating crisis. He stressed that the scale of insecurity facing Nigeria is far more dangerous than many recognise, insisting that urgent, coordinated action is the only viable path to restoring safety and public confidence.