Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has again come under fire from his top critic the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Northern Elders Forum (NEF).
This time, the nation’s major opposition party and the northern elders on Sunday, June 14, blasted the Buhari-led administration over the increased insecurity across the country especially the North.
According to The Nation, Prof Ango Abdullahi-led group on NEF lamented that the northern region had been pushed to the wall in addition to the fact that the people were now at the mercy of armed gangs who are wreaking havoc in their towns and villages at will.
The elders in a statement signed by Abdullahi said the Buhari-led administration and northern governors had failed woefully in the provision of security and welfare for the people.
NEF went on to note that northerners have never experienced this level of exposure to criminals who attack, kill, kidnap, burn villages among others while the president issues threats and promises that have no effect.
The group while noting that enough is enough called on the federal government and northern governors to improve the security in the north immediately.
The statement reads in part: “It would appear that the administration of President Buhari and governors have lost control over the imperatives of protecting people of the North, a Constitutional duty they swore to uphold.
“The situation is getting worse literally by the day. Bandits and insurgents appear to sense a huge vacuum in political will and capacity which they exploit with disastrous consequences on communities and individuals.
“We remind President Buhari that provision of security and pursuit of economic welfare of citizens are the only two constitutional responsibilities of the state which all leaders must achieve.
We are tired of excuses and verbal threats that criminals laugh at, and our fellow citizens see as a clear failure of leadership which they see as part of them. Enough is enough.”
The PDP on its part said the inability of the current administration to contain the killings was not acceptable.
The opposition party in a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the states worst hit by the security situation in the country are Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Kogi, and Taraba.
The party while noting that it was greatly hurt by the anguish and cruelty Nigerians were facing challenged the Nigerian government to tighten security and secure the country.
He said: “Our party holds that the situation where marauders and insurgents, who had been pushed to the fringes by the PDP administration, had resurged under the APC (All Progressives Congrss} to the extent of occupying territories, ravaging communities and killing our citizens with reckless abandon, raises a lot of questions.”
Earlier, we reported that President Buhari blamed the recent killings in Borno and Katsina states on the current coronavirus lockdown across the country.
The Nigerian leader made this assertion during his national broadcast on Friday, June 12 on the occasion of Nigeria’s 21st anniversary of a return to civilian rule.
The president, who expressed regret at the attacks, described the loss of several lives in the attacks as tragic. He also assured that the security agencies will bring the attackers to justice.
In a related development, at least 50 persons were feared dead following a fresh attack on Kadisau town in Faskari local government area of Katsina state.
No fewer than hundreds of residents of Yan Tumaki in Danmusa local government area of Katsina state on Tuesday, June 9, took to the streets of the town to protest repeated attacks by bandits on the community.
The protesters, comprised grown-up men and children, blamed President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Wasari for the spate of insecurity in the state.
According to the report, one of the protesters said residents of the area now lived in fear as security agencies in the state appear helpless. He said the people might resort to self-defence, noting that such a move may further worsen the security challenges in the country.
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