CAN suggests foreign assistance to deal with national insecurity

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has suggested to the Federal Government that it solicits the assistance of the international community in confronting the rising insecurity in the country.

The CAN asked that the international community aid Nigeria in putting a permanent end to the siege by terrorists, bandits and criminal herdsmen causing mayhem in Nigeria, and not wait till when the situation snowballs into a civil war.

The suggestion comes in the wake of the mass abductions of 333 students of Government Science Secondary School, in Kankara, Katsina State, as well as other attacks in school facilities.

The CAN in a statement registered its frustrations over the seeming inability of government to learn lessons from previous attacks and abductions of school children in Chibok, Dapchi and other cases.

Pastor Bayo Oladeji, media aide to CAN President Dr Samson Olasupo, who signed the statement, described the latest abduction as another tragic chapter in the history of the country, with the rise of criminals who operate with impunity.

‘The fact that the unfortunate incident happened while President, Muhammadu Buhari is in Katsina, his home state, means the criminals have sent a strong message to him that the security architecture of the country has been compromised under his watch,’ the CAN statement read.

‘The abduction has also exposed the failure of both the government and the security agencies to learn from the abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State in 2014, and 110 schoolgirls at the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi, in Yobe State, in 2018.

‘It also means all stakeholders in the education sector have learnt nothing from the two historic tragedies, despite the fact that our security agencies have failed to secure the release of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and the only Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, who is still wasting in the den of the terrorists.’

The Christian Association accused the government of not being bothered about the security of the people despite all the killings being reported daily.

‘The President turned down the invitation of the House of Representatives to explain and rob minds with the legislators on the way out of our deplorable security situation in the country.

‘What an attitude of ‘I don’t care!’. President Buhari should remember that history is being written about him with the way he is addressing security challenges just as we are talking about the Chibok schoolgirls and the Jonathan administration,’ the group remarked in the statement.

The CAN advised the Federal Government to direct the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to provide protection for schools and colleges nationwide especially in areas where security appears to be compromised.