BY DAYO ADESULU
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Gani Adams has decried the security challenges bedevilling the country, warning that if President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would not stem the tide, Nigerians would be forced to seek self-help.
He said: “The security situation has reached its peak with the threat by these terrorists to kidnap the President, governors, and lawmakers. We are aware of their plans to strike in Lagos, Ibadan, Oyo state, and Abeokuta in Ogun state. However, I implore all the governors in the southwest to recruit local security service structures in their various local governments.”
He pointed out the recent situation where Buhari’s advance team was attacked in Katsina and the soldiers guarding the president were also attacked in Abuja and in the encounter, some of them were killed. ”It looks as if this administration has decided to force Nigerians to seek self-help,” he said.
The Yoruba generalissimo who spoke in a statement through his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, on Sunday said that Nigeria was already heading for a decline.
He urged President Buhari to without further delay stop the most populous black African country from drifting into destruction.
According to him, the series of serious security breaches in the country in the last few months means that all is not well with the security architecture of Nigeria.
His statement: “On the economic front, it is another sad story. A dollar is now more than N700. This is an administration that met dollars at less than N200 in 2015. Economically, if this is not scary enough, we wonder what is. We now have a situation in which family members are being forced to raise N100 million naira to pay as ransom. The money is delivered to these terrorists to buy more weapons and the government is merely watching.
“After every abduction, the President will summon Service Chiefs to a meeting, a statement will be issued and that is the end of it. What we will hear next is another abduction or series of kidnappings.
“The insecurity situation has reached its peak with the threat by these terrorists to kidnap the President, governors and lawmakers. The presidential advance team was attacked in Katsina and even soldiers guarding the president were attacked in Abuja. Some of them were killed. It looks as if this administration has decided to force Nigerians to seek self-help.”
“Is it a crime for Nigerians to move from one place to the other? Mass abductions go on every day, yet not one victim has ever been rescued, except when the ransom is paid. The horrendous humiliation of Nigerians in their country by these terrorists should stop immediately.
“President Buhari can use his executive powers to allow the immediate establishment of state police with a mandate to flush out all the terrorists stationed in strategic places in the country.
“Nigerians’ silence is being misconstrued for foolishness. By the time President Buhari and other government officials realise that Nigerians can rise like Sri Lankans, it will be too late for them.
“The President has about 10 months left in office. This is the time to redeem his image. Nigerians believe, and rightly so, that without high-level conspiracy with these terrorists, the blood-thirsty maniacs will not have the audacity and insolent boldness to be attacking Nigerians everywhere. Somnambulation and hate actions from the government against Nigerians must stop now”
“Now that Abuja has seemingly lost the battle to terrorists, the southwest region has been the next target of these destroyers of hope. But, we will never allow them to destroy our land. Therefore, we urge the six governors in the southwest states to hold an urgent emergency security meeting with stakeholders across the region so as to address the impending implosion.
“We are aware of their plans to strike in Lagos, Ibadan, Oyo state, and Abeokuta in Ogun state, however, I implore all the governors in the southwest to recruit local security service structures in their various local governments. At least,150 people in each local government. This local security architecture would be given stipends as salaries as their job is to assist and complement the efforts of operation Amotekun that had been existing in five out of the six states in the region.
“However, it must be said also that in case the governors need my help or any kind of assistance or that of Southwest Security Stakeholders’ Group in strengthening our region’s security, I am ready to offer the assistance.
“Nothing guarantees safety in any country or region other than the synergy and cooperation among all the stakeholders. I want to also urge anybody with useful information that has any security implication to tell the traditional rulers, leaders in their respective locality or even me for us to intervene and report the same to the right quarters.
“For instance, the information reaching me today is that the terrorists are in-between Osu forest and Ile Ife, Osun state, fully armed with various ammunition and they are present in the forest between Abeokuta and Ibadan planning to attack us in the southwest. This is one piece of information that we need to act on in order to avoid a possible calamity.
“Yoruba aren’t cowards. So, Let everybody in the southwest be vigilant and be watchful in checking this insecurity scourge that is already stiff-necking Nigeria and could not let the nation breathe”.
