Nigeria on the brink of implosion?
Buhari’s aide, Northern youths trade blames over insecurity
*As frontline Kano politician, Mohammed, asks Babangida, Gusau, Danjuma to speak up
* Says conspiracy of silence unhelpful to the North
* Why alliance between Boko Haram, Ansaru may fail — Expert
* Nigerians have lost confidence in FG — CNG
Our Reporter
The Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, and leader of the Coalition of Northern Youths, were yesterday locked in blame games over the security situation in the country, especially the North.
Both personalities spoke in an interview with the Hausa Service of Radio Deutsche Welle monitored in Kaduna on Wednesday.
Their encounter came on a day frontline politician in Kano, Hajiya Najatu Mohammed, did not only condemn the killings in the north but also asked former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma, retd, and former National Security Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, to speak up on the security situation in the north.
This is even as the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, declared yesterday that Nigerians have lost confidence in the ability of the Federal Government to reverse the violence in the north.
On his part, Aminu Adam of a Coalition of Northern Youths, said his group has offered advice to the Federal Government on the security situation in the country but lamented that its efforts had been in vain.
“We followed Buhari to America, we protested there, we told him the security situation is bad, he did nothing,” he alleged.
Countering him, the President’s aide, Bashir Ahmed, said Buhari was very sad about the security situation in the country but noted that security was the responsibility of everyone.
“Buhari is extremely sad about the security situation; it is not something that we should come out and tell the public what would be done. Security is everyone’s concern, it is sad citizens are fighting citizens,’’ he said.
Also speaking on the security situation in the country, in an interview with Radio France International, RFI, yesterday, Hajia Mohammed specifically urged Babangida, Gusau and Danjuma to speak up, warning that their silence was counter-productive to the kind of North they would like their children to inherit.
“Your children may be the victim of a troubled North because of your silence. You should speak out over these killings. Come out and advise Buhari. He needs your help, he can’t handle the situation alone,” she said.
Hajia Mohammed took a swipe at the security agencies and decried a situation where the quest for succession was allegedly given premium over national interest.
She added: “They (security agencies) are only concerned about succession. Nigeria, with all its wealth cannot effectively deploy drones in the fight against criminality.
“I worked with the Police Service Commission, the Detective School in Enugu was shut due to alleged paucity of funds .The intelligence set up is not functioning, Nigeria is greater than Buhari, he will leave office one day.
“If Chad can chase insurgents up to Nigeria, then our security agents are doing nothing. I do receive phone calls that bandits are raiding villages, no single security man will be there and many will be killed.
‘’The security chiefs are propagandists, telling lies. Buhari gives money for security more than Jonathan did but there is nothing to show for it. Buhari should overhaul the security network, if the security situation must be improved.’’
Similarly, Dr. Kabir Adamu, an Abuja-based security expert said an alliance between Boko Haram and Ansaru bandits in the North West might not work because of differences in ideology.
He told the DW Hausa Service yesterday that Boko Haram was guided by religious ideology, while Anasaru bandits were thieves who engaged in attacks to loot and steal.
The military, he said, must strive harder in its counter-terrorism efforts to curtail the terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes in the north.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, said yesterday that Nigerians have lost confidence in the ability of the government to protect them.
Spokesman of the group, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, in a statement said the escalation of attacks on defenceless northern communities by bandits, and insurgents and atrocities of kidnappers among sundry criminal elements, raised a lot of concerns and a raging uproar from an agitated public.
READ ALSO: Boko Haram Attacks: Overhaul security architecture now, labour group tells Buhari
The statement read: “Within just six days, between Monday, June 8, and Saturday, June 13, 2020, the North lost over 240 lives in several attacks, representing the highest number of deaths in such a short period in recent times.
“The Nigeria Security Tracker, which compiles violent incidents around the nation stated that 114 persons lost their lives in Borno State alone within this period, with Katsina State following on the list of fatalities with 75 fatalities.
“In the previous week, deaths caused by violent events stood at 183, while between Monday, May 25, and Sunday, May 31, the number of violent deaths reported by the tracker stood at 149.
‘’Alarmed by the regularity of these incidences and the audacity with which the killers roam and operate freely, the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, organised a series of region-wide protests against the killing of innocent people, starting from Katsina and Niger states on June 16, 2020.
“The protests, scheduled to take place simultaneously in all the remaining northern states, were to call attention to the numerous deficits in the security arrangement that needed to be rectified to tackle the current capabilities of the bandits and other terrorist groups.
“As clear evidence that the administration had finally taken note of the mounting public outrage and the courage of the CNG in raising their voice and acting against the prior indifferent and ineffective approach, the following successive events unfolded
‘’As usual, President Muhammadu Buhari quickly appealed to the people and the protesters to be patient as plans to tackle the situation are under way. Encouragingly, the Presidency dispatched a high-powered security delegation to some states in the North to convey its renewed concerns and plans to take firmer action against the bandits, rustlers, kidnappers, rapists and insurgents who were hitherto allowed to operate unchallenged.”
Both personalities spoke in an interview with the Hausa Service of Radio Deutsche Welle monitored in Kaduna yesterday.
Their encounter came on a day frontline politician in Kano, Hajiya Najatu Mohammed, did not only condemn the killings in the north but also asked former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Theophilus Danjuma, retd, and former National Security Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Aliyu Gusau, to speak up on the security situation in the north.
With all these developments, political watchers believe that the position of the Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu ,over the cover-ups in the nation’s seat of power may not be unfounded after all .
There is morbid fear that Nigeria may implode before the next general election in 2023 as the cabal is now unable to speak with one voice any more since after the death of Abba Kyari.
( Support from Vanguard)
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