A Coalition of Northern Groups has again criticised President Muhammadu Buhari over his inability to secure the northern region from bandits, kidnappers and terrorists.
The spokesperson for the Coalition, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, disclosed this while reacting to the release of over 300 students kidnapped from the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
According to Suleiman, many farmers in the region have abandoned their farmlands uncultivated due to insecurity.
The statement partly reads, “At the risk of overstating the case, we can unhesitatingly assert that the daring theft of more than 300 students from one point, at the same hour, represents the height of the most serious social and security challenges facing the North today.
“The fact that the Kankara abduction, carried out right under the nose of the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian armed forces also came with tell-tale signs of a possible influence of the Boko Haram insurgents, is the more reason why it should be seen as an existential matter that needs to be addressed, tackled robustly and defeated once for all.
“A situation where dangerous security challenges such as the ones we are faced with, are being treated with levity and condescension by the President is certainly unacceptable.
“No people can aspire to greatness or seek to remain secure and safe when its entire population, particularly the youth and farming communities that represent the productive segments of society, are exposed to such level of danger in the hands of murderous gangs of criminals who operate at will and with ease.
“We at the CNG, therefore, see this not as a moment for celebration alone but as a starting point for a vigorous struggle for a sustained collective action to ensure a conclusive pronouncement of victory with total disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration.”
The CNG warned the northern governors to confront the surging insecurity collectively, adding that their failure to do so would make the situation more complicated and with ripple effects.
“To Mr President and the federal authorities, we say, problems are there to be solved or alleviated and never to be shied away from. They must, therefore, either recommit to act to solve this challenge quickly as a matter of the most urgent consideration, or tow the decent path of integrity by admitting failure and giving a chance for self-protection,” it noted.
