Insecurity in North: Buhari under fire

Fred Itua, Abuja

Northern political leaders have expressed divergent views over President Muhammadu Buhari’s handling of the security situation in the country, particularly in the North.

Last week, there were reports of attacks on villages in Borno State. Scores were reportedly killed, while many were injured.

Bandits have also increased attacks in many states in the North West and parts of South East in recent weeks.

Worried by the development, stakeholders have been calling on President Buhari to rejig the security architecture of the country.

Senator Shehu Sani, Junaid Mohammed and Dauda Birmah, in separate interviews with Daily Sun, agreed that the security situation was becoming worrisome and that urgent steps needed to be taken to salvage the menace.

While Sani and Mohammed criticised President Buhari’s alleged poor handling of the situation, Birmah said attention should be shifted from the Federal to state governments.

Sani in his comments, slammed the president and concluded that his inability to protect the lives of Nigerians is a sign of failure.

He also claimed that Buhari’s administration had repeatedly proved that it lacks the ability to protect the lives of Nigerians as prescribed in the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Sani said: “I have said it repeatedly that this government has failed to secure the lives of Nigerians when it comes to the issue of security. For every blood that has been spilt, it is a sign of failure of government. Insecurity in northern Nigeria shouldn’t only be addressed from the security point of view. Some other fundamental issues need to be addressed.

“The government should listen more and explore the possibilities of dialoguing with with insurgents. Dialogue would have been easier seven or eight years ago. Today, our local terror groups are now affiliated with international terrorist organisations.”

He lamented that some sections of Niger, Kaduna and Katsina states were still under the control of bandits, despite the deployment of troops by President Buhari.

“In many parts of Niger, Kaduna and Katsina states, people are still under the siege of kidnappers and bandits. It is commendable that President Muhammadu Buhari has deplored troops to most of these places. But that’s not at all.

“I believe that political and traditional rulers, including northern leaders need to come together and fight the poverty in the region. The government needs to do more to lift many people out of poverty, fund education and develop agriculture. Northern states must come together and address these issues,” the Kaduna-born member of the 8th Senate added.

Mohammed who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic, said the administration of President Buhari is not sincere.

He also questioned the purported refusal of Buhari to sack his service chiefs, despite the mounting pressure from stakeholders across the country.

He said: “The Federal government is not sincere about the security situation in the country. Spokesmen of the government are always coming out and trying to convince us that security is better now in the country. But we are not blind and can see things for ourselves.

“The most dishonest among them is the Army. They are not telling the president or people in government the truth about the true state of affairs regarding the insurgency in the North East and how far we have gone.

“As you know, there is an international dimension now to the issue of security. You see Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram fighters using different sophisticated weapons. These weapons are not from Nigeria.

“They are smuggled into the country through our porous borders and we are not doing anything about that. We also have service chiefs who have outlived their usefulness and the president has refused to change them.

“I don’t know why he’s still keeping them. But for whatever reasons, it is not helpful to the country and something needs to be done about it. The people in government and those around the president must be patriotic enough to tell us the truth about what is happening.”

Birmah who hails from Adamawa State and served as Minister of Education in late Sani Abacha’s military regime, said local and state governments should be questioned on how they spend their monthly allocations.

He said every month, local and state governments come to Abuja to share money. He wondered why only the Federal government is blamed whenever there are security challenges.

He said: “People always blame the Federal government about the security situation in the country. I think we should begin to ask our state and local governments what they do with the money they get every month.

“If local governments are working well for instance, it will not take a long way in fixing the security problem. Local government chairmen know people at the grassroots level and they need to do more.

“I also think that those calling for the removal of service chiefs are getting it wrong. You can’t change the people supervising the operation against Boko Haram.”