Afenifere, the pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, says the poor handling of Nigeria’s rising insecurity by the Federal Government is emboldening bandits and terrorists to be more daring.
According to Jare Ajayi, the national publicity secretary of the Afenifere, in a statement on Monday, the level to which terrorism, kidnapping, and needless killings have degenerated in the Southwest and other parts of the country “is troubling”.
Ajayi said the manner security issues are being handled lends credence to the allegation in some quarters that there could be a hidden agenda to the issue of banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism, “otherwise, the government would have been more decisive in the way it tackles the monster that is fast eroding the essence of our being.”
The Afenifere spokesman, therefore, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently put a stop to the needless sacrifice of lives of innocent Nigerians by terrorists.
As a way out of the security problem, Afenifere suggested calling the terrorists’ bluff, equipping the security agencies materially, logistically and in terms of morale-boosting, genuine commitment to Nigeria and the people as well as allowing states that are willing to set up state police forces.
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“These things are the minimum that the president can do. And they are not difficult to do at all. It only takes the desired political and moral will on the part of the president to do so.”
The group argued that there was also a constitutional reason for the president to take these steps because Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) makes it a duty for the government to provide security for the people. Furthermore, if he could allow the restructuring of the country right now, history would be kinder to him.
“The president should, without wasting any more time, get these things done as suggested above. And in doing so, he could also delegate more powers so that the engine of the state can run faster and more efficiently” Ajayi stated.
Afenifere described the confession by President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, that terrorists ‘deceived’ the government into releasing his wife and children without releasing victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train as “very unfortunate and an admission of failure” as a government.
“In view of the fact that government is expected to possess superior power in virtually everything than any others in a country, considering the fact that the primary responsibilities of the government are the provision of security and welfare for the people and considering the fact that the present administration has failed to provide either security or welfare for the people of Nigeria in recent times, one may not be wrong to state that President Buhari’s government greatly lost the confidence, trust and hope that were invested in it at inception. It is a pity”
It would be recalled that Garba Shehu, on Friday, stated as follow “the commander of the terrorist group requested that the government should release his pregnant wife, which was done.
“The government even took her to the hospital for safe delivery and she delivered twins. “The government went further to show him his wife and the twins so that he would believe and see that the mother and the babies were in good condition.
“We then handed over his family to his parents. Unfortunately, after all this, he failed to honour the agreement reached. We were deceived.”
The aspect of the ‘agreement’ alluded to by Shehu, according to reports, was the release of the remaining Abuja-Kaduna train passengers who were kidnapped earlier. “By the way, what about other people kidnapped from other places?” Afenifere asked.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (Hausa Service) that broadcast Garba’s interview reported that this was not the first time the terrorists had failed to honour such agreements. But it was the first time the Federal Government informed the world of such dealings with the terrorists.
According to Afenifere, what came out of Shehu’s disclosures confirmed suspicion and allegation that have been in the public domain for a long time, to wit: That government not only knows the terrorists, it is aware of where they are! “Why the government refuses to confront them and put an end to the needless losses and agonies of Nigerians is a riddle that one finds difficult to unravel”.
