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Insecurity: Senior Citizens Urge Buhari To Take Decisive Action

Senior citizens have decried the worsening insecurity in the country, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to take decisive action
Kwande, who is over 92 years old, explained that since he was born, he had never experienced insecurity of this nature in the country like what he was witnessing today

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that a cross-section of senior citizens including religious leaders and retired military chiefs have decried the worsening insecurity in the country, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to take decisive actions to stem the tide.

These elders said the country never had it this bad, saying that lives have become meaningless with the daily killing and abduction of innocent citizens by terrorists, Daily Trust reports.

It can be recalled that dozens of people including military personnel have been killed in Kaduna, Niger and other parts of the region. This is just as scores have been kidnapped.

Reports from Kaduna showed that no fewer than 15 soldiers, three vigilantes and two civilians were killed by terrorists on Sunday night.

The attack came at a time Nigerians are still mourning the killing of nine persons penultimate Monday by terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train. Many passengers are still missing while others are at hospitals receiving treatment for gun injuries they sustained during the attack.

Many have also been kidnapped on Kaduna- Abuja Road even as there was an attempt on the Kaduna International Airport.

Leading the call, the Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of the Abuja Catholic Diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has urged the federal government to act on the lingering insecurity in the country.

He told Daily Trust that his view would not be different from the view of most Nigerians, that the spate of insecurity is a surprise to almost everybody and that citizens are all unable to understand what is happening.

“We cannot understand that the authorities have not been able to put it under control. I think most Nigerians have this sense of ‘we don’t know what is happening’.

“We have lived in this country for some time and have been able to move around. This is the first time we are having this kind of situation where you don’t even know how to move anywhere.

“The interesting things are that even people in authority when we talk to some of them are even saying the same thing that they are surprised. It is like we are all helpless,” he said.

Also, a former Ambassador to Switzerland, Yahaya Kwande, described the current security situation in the country as devastating, horrible and frightening, saying that the whole thing had reached its climax.

Kwande, who is over 92 years old, explained that since he was born, he had never experienced insecurity of this nature in the country like what he was witnessing today.

He said, “I must tell you that I have never seen my life in danger, in every minute of my life except now, especially in the last four years. I cannot say the government cannot handle the situation but has failed to it. The longer it goes, the more dangerous it is to citizens of Nigeria.

“It started from the community; it went on to hamlets and now to individuals who are getting frightening by the day. People are not frightened of the attackers but the inability of the government to handle the problem. This means there is no hope. It seems we are being ruled by insurgents. They do what they want at any given time. They are almost on top of everything,” he said.

A former military administrator of one of the northern states said poor leadership at all levels was responsible for the increasing insecurity across the country, especially in the northern region. He said with the right leadership, a well-equipped Nigerian Army could exterminate terrorists in the next six months.

“By now, I believe that Nigerians have realised that they made a huge error electing Buhari and have now realised that he does not have the capacity to govern this country,” he said. He described as unfortunate that the Presidency was always ready to issue condemnation but wondered if condemning the act had stopped the killings.

The former administrator also said the problem of insecurity persists because President Buhari has a narrow circle of advisers who he described as “opportunists,” adding that the president does not listen to advice from others.

On his part, Group Captain Rufai Garba (Rtd), a former Military Administrator of Anambra and Sokoto states, opined that the rising insecurity in the North is “quite disturbing”, adding that there should have been at least a discussion between security agencies and community leaders to know the major causes of the rising insecurity in the region.

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He said he believed the government was not doing well enough to incorporate community leaders in its approach to resolving the insecurity in the region.

“We need to work hard on intelligence gathering and filtering. Everybody will tell you that they are confused. Why? If the bandits have grievances against the system, let them look for the people at the helm of affairs and leave the poor people out of it, not to go and be killing people in the villages, destroying their farms and their livelihoods, raping their kids and wives and killing their children? Why,” he asked.

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Adebayo Gbenga