Elders from Northern Nigeria have expressed worry over the nation’s state of insecurity, saying they are disturbed that President Muhammadu Buhari has not taken proactive steps to end the situation other than holding endless meetings with security chiefs.
The elders, operating under the aegis of the Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development, CNEEPP, reiterated their call for the restructuring of the nation’s entire security architecture.
CNEEPP said unless such a step was taken by the president and urgently too, the nation’s worsening security challenges might not abate soon.
CNEEPP accused Monguno of feeding Buhari with lies and wrong advice regarding the worsening security challenges, adding that the Service Chiefs had become bereft of fresh ideas to tackle the problems.
statement by the body’s National Coordinator, Zana Goni, said: “Insecurity in Nigeria has become a source of concern both to Nigerians and the international community.”
The group lamented that “churches, mosques, residential buildings, schools and farmlands are not safe as terrorists regularly invade them.”
The Northern elders lamented Buhari’s refusal to harken to calls for the overhauling of the country’s security architecture.
“Some Nigerians in the North are fleeing to neighbouring countries to seek refuge. Soldiers who are supposed to be at the war front are resigning over a lack of motivation from the service chiefs. In addition, there is a limited supply of weapons and ammunition. At the last count, over 5000 lives have been lost in the last five years and the number keeps increasing by the day with no solution in sight.
“In the wake of these atrocities, Nigerians of all walks of life have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the National Security Adviser, NSA, and the Service Chiefs for non-performance.
“Surprisingly, President Buhari is yet to take action on useful advice by well-meaning Nigerians and instead, engaging in endless meaningless meetings with the security chiefs in Aso Rock, we can’t continue like this as if the collapse of the country does not mean anything to us”, the statement read.
