Following the continuous killings in Benue and Plateau States, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has pointedly asked the National Security Adviser Malam Nuhu Ribadu to stop giving lame excuses for the gross incompetence and crass inefficiency of the security infrastructures to combat the rising spate of killings.
The Rights group in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko disclosed that the government has spent fifty percent of her tenure of four years and so it is unacceptable that the government is still busy creating excuses why the security forces are getting overwhelmed by the activities of armed non state actors. “The role of government is to lead from the front and combat insecurity and all the threats against the good people of Nigeria.
HURIWA stated that rather than keep reeling out numerous untenable excuses for the twin evils of intelligence and security failures that have led to the proliferation of killings of citizens by armed non-state actors, what the Nigerian citizens are expecting from top security chiefs such as the service chiefs and the National Security Adviser is to implement foolproof proactive security and intelligence generating mechanisms and steps to put the killers of Nigerians out of work and bring both the killers and their sponsors to face decisive justice.
HURIWA recalled that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had reportedly stated that the administration of President Bola Tinubu inherited an extremely poor security situation but is working relentlessly to restore peace across the country.
Speaking during a security meeting with stakeholders at the Benue State Government House in Makurdi, Ribadu commiserated with the people over the spate of killings and renewed attacks, assuring them that the Federal Government is committed to overcoming the crisis.
“We will defeat it. The entire country is with you,” Ribadu told the gathering. “I commiserate with the people of Benue and assure you that this is a trying period for all of us, but we are 100 percent with you.”
Ribadu emphasized the strategic importance of Benue State in the nation’s security architecture, adding that efforts would be intensified to ensure lasting peace in the region.
“Benue is an extremely important state to Nigeria. We must fight and maintain Benue as a peaceful state. The Governor is doing well and we will support him,” he said.
The NSA acknowledged the efforts of Nigeria’s armed forces, stressing that while it is not feasible to deploy soldiers or police to every community, progress is being made.
“Our armed forces are doing well. It’s impossible to post security to every hamlet. What we need is support and for people to stop politicizing the killings. That will help us restore peace.”
Ribadu pointed to the current administration’s efforts in tackling insecurity and highlighted that the security situation has already seen significant improvement compared to what was inherited.
“We inherited an extremely bad government. Things have improved. We’re addressing the issues. To do harm is easy, but to fix things takes time. We have considerably reduced the level of violence we met. This, too, we will confront.”
HURIWA faulted the NSA and affirmed that the current administration has had a whole two years or twenty four working months to stamp out the sponsors of terrorism on the Nigerian citizens but from every indications, the impression being passed on to Nigerians is that this government lacks the political will to conduct adequate and proper forensic investigation to unravel the true sponsors of the killings especially the incessant terror attacks on Benue and Plateau states choreographed by persons suspected to be foreign elements.
“The National Security Adviser and the Chief of Defence Staff should be in a good position to determine the sponsors who invite armed foreign insurgents into Nigeria. This federal government must and should have the wherewithal to intelligently ascertain the exact sponsors who ferry foreign terrorists into Plateau and Benue states. It will be disastrous if the federal government is incapable of sniffing out those bad guys ferrying in foreign terrorists into the country. So, what has the federal government being doing with the humongous amounts of public funds funneled into fighting threats to national security interest of Nigeria?
“If the Governors of these two states of Benue and Plateau under constant attacks have repeatedly revealed that the attackers have foreign origin, it therefore follows that some dark forces within Nigeria are responsible for engaging and paying these terrorism masterminds to invade parts of Benue and Plateau states to attack citizens.
“If the federal government through the National Intelligence Agency doesn’t have this competency and the relevant capacity to know those behind the importation of foreign terrorists into Nigeria, then it can well be assumed that Nigeria is actually a failed state. It is disappointing that Nuhu Ribadu is telling us that this government inherited a bad security situation which is an admission of failure. It’s like saying, we the government of Nigeria can’t protect you the citizens and this is because we inherited a bad security situation. Nigerians are sick and tired of cock-and bull stories from heads of security institutions.
