From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Some youths organisations from the 19 Northern States and Abuja on Monday rose from a two-day meeting in Kaduna to call on President Muhammadu Buhari and Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu, to allow communities to bear fire arms and protect themselves.
The meeting, which was held under Joint Committee of Northern Youth Association (JACOM) to discuss the prevailing security situation in Northern Nigeria observed that, President Muhammadu Buhari had failed to protect lives and property of Nigerians.
The group in a communique read by Raphael Terkula and Muhammed Murtala Abubakar read in part, “the one-day meeting was held to assess the situation and the progress or otherwise in the last 6 years, with a verdict that the situation is deteriorating and escalating, leaving the people helpless. We resolved that keeping quiet and condemning the situation is not an only option.
“The Northern part of Nigeria is fast becoming a shadow of itself, largely due to bad governance with insecurity grounding the economy of the region.
“The spate of killings and the increasing inability of the State Governments and by extension the Federal Government to protect lives and property is alarming thereby resulting in helplessness for Nigerian citizens in the north.
“The Nigerian Government under President Muhammadu Buhari has failed in its primary duty as provided by section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of Government”.
“Today in Northern Nigeria, people cannot freely travel between few kilometres without being kidnapped for ransom or killed, their homes are neither safe, nor can they go to their farms.
“Students in boarding schools have joined long list of victims, same with lecturers in tertiary institutions, thereby causing them to live in total apprehension.
“Hence, keeping quiet is not an option, all people of good conscience must speak out against the worsening security situation in Northern Nigeria. Citizens should take steps necessary to protect their lives and property since Government is failing woefully on its primary duty.
“We urge President Muhammadu Buhari to respect the resolutions of the National Assembly, opinion on of other critical stakeholders on the security situation and do the needful by sacking the service chiefs and injecting new ideas to arrest the worsening security situation.
“President Buhari should reverse his neglect of Northern Nigeria by the way he acts whenever a tragedy befalls other parts of Nigeria which contradicts the way he acts if a tragedy befalls the North which is fast becoming a daily occurrence.
“We condemn the continues negotiation and payments to bandits by Some Northern State Governors. We hereby ask state Governors to give account of Security votes and further engage youths on how to spend or fund the security operations in their respective states.
“We are urging the IGP to lift the ban on owning fire arms, review the requirements and allow responsible Nigerians and Communities the right to apply for fire arms to protect themselves”, the communique read in part.
