President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that the federal government was committed to taking decisive actions against secessionist agitators and their sponsors who threaten national unity.
The President issued the warning in a nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 61st Independence Anniversary on Friday in Abuja.
He said already high profile financiers of the agitators, including a serving member of the National Assembly had been identified.
According to him, “The recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high profile financiers behind these individuals. We are vigorously pursuing these financiers, including one identified as a serving member of the National Assembly.
“This is a clear example of how people abandon their national leadership positions for their selfish gains.
“Instead of preaching unity, they are funding and misleading our youth to conduct criminal acts that sometimes lead to unfortunate and unnecessary loss of lives and property.
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“As the so-called leaders run abroad to hide, our innocent youths are misled and left in the streets to fight for their senseless and destructive causes”.
President Buhari who is spending his second tenure in office, however, stated that the government would continue in collaboration with international partners, to improve the security architecture of the country.
President Muhammadu also revealed that he has approved the conditional lifting of ban on microblogging giant Twitter.
Buhari announced that the Presidential Committee he constituted, along with its Technical Team, to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue that led to the suspension of Twitter’s activities in Nigeria had successfully addressed a number of key issues.
“Following the suspension of Twitter operations, Twitter Inc. reached out to the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the impasse. Subsequently, I constituted a Presidential Committee to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue.
“The Committee, along with its Technical Team, has engaged with Twitter and has addressed a number of key issues. These are National Security and Cohesion; Registration, Physical presence and Representation; Fair Taxation; Dispute Resolution; and Local Content.
“Following the extensive engagements, the issues are being addressed and I have directed that the suspension be lifted but only if the conditions are met to allow our citizens continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements”, Buhari said.
He added that his administration remains committed to giving Nigerians the dividend of democracy by allowing digital companies to use their digital platform to improve the lives of Nigerians while respecting Nigeria’s sovereignty, cultural values and promote online safety.
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