Not less than 847 soldiers were from 2013 till date killed by Boko Haram insurgents and buried in a particular military cemetery in Maiduguri, Borno state.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume, who made this known in Abuja on Tuesday, October 15, said the figure was not part of other slain soldiers buried in other cemeteries in the state.
Ndume said: “So far, from the record we saw in the cemetery, I think we lost over 847 soldiers, by their record there and that is in that cemetery alone from 2013 to date, that is their record.
“When you are in a war situation and you are budgeting N10.3tn and you are allocating less than one percent to defence, that does not show that your are serious about it.
“I was hoping that it’s 10 percent. “So far, the international community that is not affected has so far donated between $547m and over N140bn; while the Nigerian government is budgeting N38bn for North East Development Commission.
“If more than half of the budget is given to security, it is worth it because without it, all these things that you are doing – infrastructure, hospitals – will not work.”