From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) has declared that ignoring the clamour for restructuring is fuelling insecurity in the country.
The organisation said the sudden “rashes of wanton killings in almost every part of Nigeria – between farmers and herdsmen, between IPOB loyalists and law enforcement officers, between citizens of Southern Kaduna and the faceless murderous ‘bandits’ are mere symptoms of a deeper ailment.”
The NAS Capoon, Mr Abiola Owoaje in a press statement titled:”Before Anarchy Reigns in Nigeria” which expressed concern over the insecurity in the country noted the efforts of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and other non-state actors to douse tension adding however that “we feel it an urgent duty to warn that under the surface of calm simmers the cauldron of war.”
According to him the “frequency and severity of this recidivist violent criminality points to a failure of political leadership in the country and of our security agencies to address the deeper issues of law and order, and the security of ordinary citizens.”
While pointing out that the reaction of the Presidency to the herders/farmers crises has consistently fallen short of the impartiality, responsibility and empathy that is expected of an administration that serves the whole country, Owoaje stressed that it “has fuelled fears of official complicity, tacit encouragement of criminal elements and their public defenders.”
“The failure to interdict these criminal elements, bandits, insurgents, marauding Fulani herdsmen and kidnappers, has significantly polarised the country and turned Nigeria into a theatre of violence while undermining the confidence of average Nigerians in the willingness and ability of the State to protect them.
“True peace will only come with justice. Justice cannot be achieved if our political elite do not have the best interest of the nation at heart. It is shocking that the clamour of the people for a restructured equitable country have gone largely unheeded by the country’s lawmakers who seem to serve at their own pleasure despite it being on the ruling party’s election manifesto. We warn that the inaction of today may take this country down a dark and destructive path. In this looming catastrophe, the political elite will be equally affected,” he said.
Owoaje condemned the recent violence and killings that has taken place calling on security agencies to ensure the arrest of all perpetrators.
He called on President Buhari to be alive to his responsibility as Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces to secure the country and urged both the executive and legislative arms to “to recognize the dire situation of the country and stop the barmy party posturing” to restructure this country into one where justice, egalitarian values and fairness are the bedrock.
Owoaje, who tasked the new Service Chiefs to display professionalism and competence in tackling insecurity in the country by halting the gale of impunity within and restoring the confidence of Nigerians, pleaded with Nigerians to resist all incentives to start any ethnic strife.
