By Chukwudi Nweje, Lagos
Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation Afenifere has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop grieving for victims of terrorism in Nigeria, urging him to ensure the security and welfare of Nigerians.
The group noted that terrorism and other violent crime are on the rise in the country because of the kid gloves with which the Federal Government treats them.
National Publicity Secretary of the group Jare Ajayi stated these in a statement Monday.
“The business of the Nigerian president is not to grieve for victims of terrorism but to ensure that terrorism, kidnapping, and allied crimes do not occur at all in the country. Unfortunately, we have not seen veritable indications that the Commander-in-Chief is aware of the enormity of the situation or is putting up any strategy to arrest it. What Nigerians expect from the government is not sympathy but actions. Actions that will put a total end to the nightmare, indeed life-terminating experiences they are going through presently,” he stated.
Ajayi charged the president to be more assertive in dealing with Nigeria’s insecurity challenges and also demonstrate his readiness to stem insecurity by taking a firm position on addressing terrorism.
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“President Buhari needs to come out and let perpetrators of terrorism and kidnapping know that he has had enough. He should let them realise that the pact he signed with Nigerians was not to come and see to the serial termination of their lives but to ensure their security, improve their welfare and move the nation to a desirable next level. Unfortunately, the president has not been able to deliver on any of the desirables. He only brought to the nation, the negatives which were far from the expectation of anybody,” he stated.
The group reiterated its position on state policing and insisted that such would help improve the security of lives and property, especially at the state levels.
“Reports have it that bandits attacked Bali town, in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State on the night of Sunday, August 7, and killed three persons while scores were reportedly abducted by the attackers; just last Friday, four police officers were killed when gunmen attacked the Divisional Police Headquarters in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, Within two weeks, there were about three kidnappings in Ogbomoso in Oyo State that led to the death of some victims, beheading of five people in the South East, abduction of people in Katsina, Kaduna, Nassarawa and Niger, killing and abduction of about 15 people including Indian expatriates in Kogi State and abductions of some Chiefs in Akoko area of Ondo State, all within days. These are in addition to several of such dastardly acts that have been happening in different parts of the country with increasing ferocity,” the statement read.