Afenifere bemoans Buhari’s purported “cluelessness” in the face of escalating insecurity.

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

Concerned by the level of insecurity in the nation, the Pan Yoruba sociopolitical group Afenifere questioned whether President Muhammadu Buhari was even aware of the dire situation.

In a statement headed “Insecurity in South West, Other Parts of Nigeria: Where is the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C)?,” the group released yesterday. It was emphasized that given the rate at which insecurity was growing, it appeared as if no one had any power to control the beast.

The apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo globally, attacked Buhari yesterday over his previous remark that the South-east region’s instability endures because the leaders haven’t spoken out strongly.

The state branch of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which is also frustrated by the insurmountable security issues in Katsina state, has urged the federal government to swiftly implement cutting-edge technology, such as drones, in order to flush out terrorists and other criminals in the region.

There were no concrete signs, according to Afenifere, that the C-in-C was aware of the gravity of the situation or was devising any plan to stop it, according to the statement issued by the organization and signed by Jare Ajayi, its national publicity secretary.

The Afenifere spokesman claimed that the president of Nigeria’s job was to prevent terrorism, kidnapping, and related crimes from ever happening in the nation rather than to “grieve” for terrorist victims.

According to Ajayi, the kid-glove treatment given to terrorists and kidnappers by the government has given them so much confidence that they now attack security institutions at will and maliciously enter the homes of their victims to deal with other Nigerians while being watched by the government and security agencies.

He restated Afenifere’s well-known stance on the necessity of allowing State Police and effectively managing security agencies in general.

While urging Buhari to show that he was still in charge, he indicated that the president may give all essential power to Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, his vice president, with whom he was running on a joint ticket in any case.

It should be remembered that within the past two weeks there have been about three kidnappings in Ogbomoso, Oyo State that resulted in the deaths of some victims, five people beheaded in the South-East, people abducted in Katsina, Kaduna, Nassarawa, and Niger, about 15 people killed and kidnapped, including Indian expatriates, in Kogi State, and chiefs abducted in the Akoko area of Ond

“These are in addition to a number of other such heinous actions that have been occurring around the nation with increasing ferocity.

The Amotekun Corps stopped two trucks carrying 151 young men and women in Ondo State, according to the report. Moving from one region of the country to another is typically not problematic.

But why would they hide under bags of rice and beans if they weren’t on a demonic mission? Why wouldn’t they be able to reveal their purpose and intended locations? They contend that they were lured from the states of Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa to travel to the South-West for a mission or missions about which they were not informed.

Afenifere applauds the work of the Amotekun officers and the Ondo state government for their valiant efforts.

“Reports have it that bandits attacked and killed three people on the night of Sunday, August 7, while others were purportedly kidnapped by the attackers in Bali town, the administrative center of Bali Local Government Area in Taraba State,” he continued. The thieves overpowered the security guards at the checkpoint and then started to rob people from house to house.

“Only last Friday, gunmen assaulted the Agwa Divisional Police Headquarters in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, in the southeast of Nigeria, and four police officers were slain. Afenifere specifically criticizes the notion of reintegrating terrorists and bandits who have been proven to be responsible for their crimes, saying that “evidence had shown that such seemingly reintegrated bandits go ahead to commit crimes that are more heinous than the ones they were known for beforehand.”

Buhari responds to Ohanaeze that the Southeast is not a haven for terrorists.

In the meantime, Buhari has been under fire from the Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide for his recent remark that the reason why there is still insecurity in the South-east is because the leaders have not spoken out strongly.

The group that responded to the president’s remarks on the killing of several police officers and civilians at their places of duty in Imo State also charged him with being overly selective in his assessment of the security situation in the southeast geopolitical region.

President Muhammadu Buhari strongly denounced the recent attacks by terrorists in the Southeast against non-indigenous people and law enforcement officials, calling on the “community and religious leaders to speak more forcefully against the killings and to stand up and defend the ethos of the nation’s cultural and religious heritage.” This was according to Mallam Garba Shehu, the Special Assistant to the President on Media.

Ohanaeze, on the other hand, disapproved of the president’s comment, which it claimed was “nuanced against the Southeast as a haven for terrorists that attack non-indigenes and law enforcement agencies,” in a statement made available to newsmen by Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze’s national publicity secretary.

The organization felt that the president’s remark was unfair to Igbos, given that he is aware of the causes and characteristics of the insecurity in the South-east and that the presidency’s broad authority is the best place to find a solution.

The banditry in the North-west, particularly in Katsina State, the invasion of several communities in the Middle Belt region by Fulani Herdsmen, the Church massacre at Owo, the daily kidnappings on our highways, and the kidnapping of the Kaduna-Abuja train appear to have been ignored by the presidency, according to Ohanaeze.

The statement went on to say that while Ohanaeze agreed with the Presidency and the good people of Nigeria in denouncing the heinous murder in Imo State, it insisted that the sanctity of life was so elevated in the South-east that killing a human being in any situation was viewed as an abomination.

In actuality, killing in any disguise is not in the nature of the Igbo. According to Ohanaeze, “These modern innovations are in fact highly foreign to the Southeast’s reflexes, culture, and traditions.

The association claimed that it had severally called on the Nigerian security operatives to ensure that the perpetrators of such actions were brought to account as a warning to others, adding that failure of the Nigerian security agents to fish out the criminals cannot be put on the Igbo.

SDP instructs FG to use drones to eliminate terrorists in Katsina.

Also, the Katsina state chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has called on the federal government to rapidly deploy contemporary technology such as drones in order to ferret out terrorists and other criminals in the state.

The opposition party indicated that if the battle against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping must be won, the federal government must invest drones and other security equipment to frontline states to tame the plague.

Speaking at a news conference in Katsina, the state chairman of the SDP, Bello Adamu Safana, condemned the continuous attacks perpetrated by terrorists on communities inside the Katsina metropolitan region and other neighboring villages and towns.

He queried why the federal and state governments had not utilized the skills and technologies to track down terrorists, kidnappers and other criminals terrorising Katsina and other bordering North-west States.

According to him, “There is a need for the federal government to deploy drones to Katsina and other areas in order to flush out these criminal groups. It is concerning how frequently villages in the Katsina city have been attacked.

It is urgent that the government put an end to the criminal activity targeting communities in the state capital. Just yesterday, they attacked Shola quarters, where they killed some people and kidnapped others.

However, he asserted that if the party’s nominee for State governor, Ibrahim Zakari, wins the upcoming election in 2023, he will have the expertise and credentials necessary to address the state’s security issues.

The SDP chairman continued by saying that the party has structures spread out among the 34 local government areas in the state that will increase support for its candidates for governor and other positions in 2023.