PFN to FG: Negotiation with bandits is admittance of failure

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has lamented the state of security in the nation, as it expressed concern over the state of the nation’s economy following the recent revelation by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki calling on President Muhammadu Buhari administration not to consider making any form of negotiation with bandits but to make them face the law.

“When we voted for President Muhammodu Buhari, we have paid for ransom; when we voted for the governors, we have paid for ransom; when the IGP gets his salary at the end of each month, we have paid for ransom; but the government of the day is making us to double pay for ransom,” said Wale Oke, the president of PFN at the end of its first national meeting held at the PFN national secretariat in Lagos.

Meanwhile, the PFN president urged Moslem leaders to persuade other members of the faith to prove insurgents wrong as Islam is a religion of peace. To this end, he invites Moslem leaders for partnership to end banditry and insurgency in the North and appealed to insurgents to quit perpetrating evil in the name of Islam.

According to Oke, the insecurity in the country is unbearable and questioned why any responsible government would contemplate negotiating with bandits, which he said equals failure of the state.

“Everybody should be concerned about the security situation of this nation. We want to charge the Federal Government to rise to its number one responsibility of protecting the lives and property of all Nigerians,” he stated.

PFN president equally charged the newly appointed IG and security chiefs to not ‘talk the talk but walk the talk’ by living up to expectation, and bring their skills to bear in the fight against insurgency.

Oke opined that bandits are not to be negotiated with, as they are meant to face the full wrath of the law. “I do not believe that the Nigerian government has failed yet, the government can rise up to the occasion and bring the full weight of justice to bear on the killers, rapists and bandits,” he stated.

According to him, bandits are not people to negotiate with; if anything at all, the government should negotiate with the youth that are restive and not to clamp down on them. “The people they should clamp down on are the bandits,” said Oke.

On the nation’s economy and devaluation of the Naira, Oke called for government’s quick intervention making known that the agricultural sector should be improved with drastic reduction of importation, especially consumables; advising also that more jobs be created to address youth restiveness.

“PFN is very concerned about the economic situation of the country, the value of the Naira has fallen drastically’ latest newspaper reports says a dollar is about N490 something which shows a battered economy. We heard from newspaper report that the government is attempting to print money that is not right,” said Oke.

On medical tourism, the PFN president wondered why national leaders including Buhari prefer travelling abroad for medical checks over putting the nation’s healthcare system in order.

According to him, Buhari’s health status should be made public as the nation would no longer accept absentee president. “We are praying for our president for good health; he has just returned after two weeks out of the country on health matters.

“However, two things give us concern about our president’s sojourn, we feel that the nation is not being told all the truth, we ask that the Federal Government and presidency that they should lay the cards on the table and tell us what is happening to our president, he is no longer a private person he belongs to us; so we know how to direct our prayers. Stop hiding the health status of our president, tell the whole nation and then we will know what to do,” Oke said.

Oke further said that whenever the president needs medical checkup and goes out of the country, it is a major national security risk. He therefore, wondered if the president was safer in the hands of foreigners than with Nigerians. “Supposing those people in an attempt to undermine our nation, decides to play game with our president, what can we do?” he asked.

He urged government to invest more in healthcare system, stating that doctors are complaining and on strike, and the government does not seem to care. “Let us take our medical system to such a level where the president can check in to any hospital in Nigeria and he will be fine,” said Oke.