Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Sunday, said Nigeria’s security crisis was reaching a tipping point, stressing that the situation is made even more serious as President Muhammadu Buhari seems overwhelmed by the country’s problems. Obasanjo, who spoke in Abeokuta, was reacting to the recent bomb attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train, which killed eight persons, with many other passengers kidnapped or missing.
The former president agreed with the position of some members of the House of Representatives, who declared last week that nowhere was safe in the country.
That was as the foremost northern socio-political body, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF); the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere; and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cautioned against the proposal to use mercenaries in the fight against terrorists in the country.
The idea of resorting to mercenaries was mooted recently by the Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, after confessing he was “angry, frustrated and felt totally helpless” over the activities of terrorists.
But, in a welcome development, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), on Sunday, said it had successfully re-railed seven out of the 11 coaches that were affected on the Kaduna-bound AK9 train, when it was attacked by terrorists. NRC also said 80 metres of the affected rail tracks had been repaired.
Obasanjo said recent happenings had shown that Nigerians were no longer safe anywhere in the country, whether in vehicles, on the train or at the airport.
Speaking at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, inside his residence, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, while receiving a PDP presidential aspirant, Dr. Ugochukwu Williams, and his team, Obasanjo lamented that Nigerians “are no longer safe on the road, on the train and at the airport.” He called for a concerted effort by stakeholders to stem the tide of insecurity in the country.
The former president said the present government was overwhelmed by the situation, cautioning, however, that Nigerians must not allow the problem to overcome the country.
He said, “So, if anybody comes to say I want to see you, I want to talk to you, I will say ‘you’re welcome’. This is because I believe very strongly, and I have said it publicly and I will say it again that the situation we are in this country is not a situation, where one man will say, yes, he has a solution, unless we are deceiving ourselves. I believe we need to sit down collectively and look at the situation.
“A situation where you are not safe on the road, you are not safe on the train, you are not safe at the airport, shows a very serious situation. I believe that all right-thinking Nigerians must know that we have a situation that has overwhelmed the present administration, but we should not allow that situation to overwhelm Nigeria.”
Obasanjo wished Williams well in the pursuit of his presidential ambition.
In his remarks, Williams, flanked by House of Representatives aspirants from Plateau and Imo states, said he had, with regard to his presidential ambition, visited Obasanjo for consultation. The presidential hopeful described the former president as a leader, who was passionate about the peace and unity of Nigeria.
Williams said he was on a mission to “rescue Nigeria.”
ACF Cautions Against Use of Mercenaries in Anti-terrorist War
Meanwhile, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) warned against the use of mercenaries in the fight against terrorists in the country.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, whose state had of recent been under deadly attacks by terrorists, was reported as saying he, alongside four other governors in the North-west, would hire foreign mercenaries to fight terrorists if the military failed to end the persistent attacks.
El-Rufai had said during an interview last Friday with journalists, after briefing Buhari on the attacks in his state, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, “Why is it that up till now the security has not gone to kill them (terrorists)? Where are our soldiers? Why have they not done it? That is why I have come to see Mr President.
“And also I have said that if these actions are not taken, it becomes a must for us as governors to take measures to protect our citizens, even if it means we will import mercenaries from outside the country to do it.
“If our soldiers fail, I swear to God, we will do that. This issue has gotten to an alarming state.”
But ACF, in a statement on Sunday in Kaduna, signed by its Secretary General, Murtala Aliyu, warned, “Inviting mercenaries to fight our cause must be treated with utmost caution.”
The forum said it understood the frustration of the governors over the security situation, but noted that the country should avoid any haphazard approach to its problems. It maintained, “The security of the country rests on the central government and calls for cursory, calm, implementable and lasting solution.”
Similarly, on the proposal to escort trains from Abuja to Kaduna, and Ibadan to Lagos or the Itakpe routes by the Nigerian Air Force, the forum urged security agencies to redesign their strategies and operations by deploying machinery and manpower to launch attacks on bandit and terrorist enclaves.
ACF stated, “Dedicating such operations to only railway lines shall make air and road users more vulnerable to such attacks. The new dimension of the terror attacks in the country, both on human and infrastructure, calls for total war.
“The authorities may look at the possibility of utilising volunteers, such as the ex-servicemen and women, the civilian task forces, hunters and whatever is available to make every inch of Nigeria habitable and peaceful.
“We must appreciate the responsibility bestowed on us by providence as the largest black nation and as a leader on our continent, must do everything within our powers to keep Nigeria stable and strong.”
Afenifere: Inviting Mercenary is Ominous
Also, Afenifere flayed the suggestion by the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to invite foreign mercenaries to fight terrorism in the state, saying it represents an ominous sign for the country.
Afenifere, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, said the idea, coming from one of the closest allies of Buhari and a top member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), whose state faced grave security challenges, “calls for serious interrogation and action on the part of all those who should act.”
Afenifere said the fact that El-Rufai made the suggestion immediately after a meeting with the president could be an indication that what the governor heard from Buhari, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, was not reassuring enough.
According to Afenifere, “If El-Rufai was convinced with the readiness of the federal government to confront the security situation, he would not have talked about seeking an alternative action, particularly, seeking the help of foreign mercenaries. This point is very important to be borne in mind as we interrogate the security problems confronting us today.
“For, hiring the services of foreign mercenary is certainly beyond the power of any state governor, according to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And El-Rufai knows this so well. So, for him to assert that he (and a few of his colleagues) will resort to this option could be a pointer to certain things that had hitherto not been so clear to members of the public.
“Among those could be the possibility that, perhaps, armed foreigners are already in our midst. It could also be a pointer to the fact that El-Rufai saw some kind of unwillingness on the part of the federal government to confront this problem headlong, hence his desire to seek help his own way – even when the manner of seeking such help is constitutionally beyond his power.
“But then, his position could be understood against the background of desperation and the need to put an end to the horror going on by any means possible.”
Afenifere asserted that the solution to the problem did not lie in hiring foreign mercenaries but sincerely seeking available local the answers. The group said the first step was for the Buhari government to be genuinely determined to put an end to the carnage.
It stated, “In this determination should be adequate funding of the armed forces, proper motivation of the forces, a stoppage to the kid glove treatment being given to terrorists, and more importantly, immediate approval for willing state governments to set up their own police forces.
“There are dangers in bringing in foreign mercenaries by these governors, because their antecedents in the recent past do not give us reasons to trust them. They could, perhaps, use the said mercenaries against indigenous people.”
Afenifere said such a call by a sitting governor exposed the governor as preferring to address an issue on the surface rather than from its root.
It stated, “Who would pretend not to know that many of our farmers and local people live in hamlets and villages? Would it not be those innocent people, who would be so ‘cleared’ especially since fifth columnists are likely to have informed the terrorists of the planned invasion beforehand? This is one of the reasons why the governors cannot be trusted on the issue of importing foreign mercenaries.”
Based on the claims by official sources that more than N4.27 trillion had been spent on defence in seven years, Afenifere lamented that in spite of this colossal sum, “the situation is getting worse by the day.”
Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Kasim Sumaina in Abuja, James Sowole in Abeokuta and John Shiklam in Kaduna
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