°Borno CJ suggests use of AI to fight B’Haram
°Stakeholders blame poor nutrition for insurgency
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) Theatre Command in Maiduguri, Borno State, have launched a major operation to chase out the remnants of terrorists tormenting communities within and around Timbuktu Triangle and Sambisa Forest.
In this vein, Chief Judge of the High Court of Justice of Borno, Justice Kashim Zannah, has recommended the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the fight against insecurity in the country.
However, stakeholders in the healthcare and security sectors have attributed the rising cases of insurgency in the country to poor nutrition. According to a media intelligence expert in the North East region, Zagazola Makama, the troops, in conjunction with the hybrid Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), descended on locations infested by the terrorists in the forest with the overall mandate of clearing it of everything with the semblance of terror and related criminalities.
The combined operation, codenamed Operation Desert Sanity III, rescued 25 persons, comprising 16 women, two men and seven children, from captivity.
“The troops, who have vowed to decisively rid the infamous Sambisa Forest of all forms of terror and criminality, stormed the Njimia and Farisu villages. During the operation, several suspected Boko Haram/Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists were neutralised, while others escaped with bullet wounds,” the source revealed.
ZANNAH, however, stressed the need for the government at all levels to generate sufficient data to use AI.
Speaking at an event on AI for social justice organised by Citizen’s Gavel Foundation for Social Justice with the theme ‘AI for Social Justice: Leading Citizen’s Freedom of Expression’, yesterday, in Abuja, the CJ noted that for proper assimilation of digital technology into the system, “the government must first do its homework as data is essentially a tool.”
Executive Director, Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative, Kemi Okenyedo, observed a reduction in the number of complaints received by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since the increase in fuel price; hence the imperative to use technology for information sharing.
Convener of the event and Executive Director of the Citizens’ Gavel, Nelson Olanikpekun, said the nation struggled, over the years, to integrate AI into the scheme of things.
Country Director, Accountability Lab Nigeria, Friday Odeh, said government investment should not just be in financial literacy, but also in digital literacy, if progress could be achieved, especially in the area of anti-corruption.
THE healthcare and security stakeholders lamented that the lack of access to balanced and nutritious food, particularly in the North East, led to a weakened immune system among citizens, making them more susceptible to radicalisation and recruitment by insurgent groups.
Executive Director, Africa Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF), Dr Arome Salifu, disclosed this in Abuja, during a stakeholders’ meeting focused on the Niger State Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, organized by AYGF in partnership with PLAN International.
The meeting brought together various stakeholders to discuss the crucial link between nutrition and sustainable development, as well as the project’s progress and future directions.
According to Salifu, the ANRiN project is a five-year initiative supported by the World Bank to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable populations.
Niger State Commissioner for Secondary and Tertiary Health, Dr Bello Tukur, said: “The ‘bandits’ have displaced a lot of our people from the rural communities and when they usually attack at the time of harvest or the time of planting, people rely so much on that to feed.”
