Insecurity: Youth Alliance Slams Northern Leaders For Abdicating Roles

• Demands FG apologises to Nigerians for spitting on graves of dead Zabarmari residents

BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – The North-East Youth Progressive Alliance (NEYPA) has berated Northern leaders for abdicating their leadership responsibilities thereby making the region unsecured.

They are also demanding that the Federal Government immediately apologise to Nigerians, especially families of the rice farmers gruesomely murdered by Boko Haram militants, for spitting on their graves.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media to the President, Garba Shehu, while reacting to the gruesome murder of the innocent farmers, was quoted as blaming the slain farmers for going to the farm without “permission”.

Addressing Journalists at the NUJ Press Centre, Bauchi, NEYPA described Garba’s statement as “most unfortunate and denigrating to the dead who went out to look for what to eat” .

National Convener of the group, Barrister Hussaini Saraki said; “Whosoever made that statement is out of his mind. It is uncalled for and must be withdrawn and apologies offered to Nigerians immediately”.

Hussaini said; “The entire North is bleeding, and no one seems to care, the leaders among us have chosen to remain silent, watching hiw innocent people are being slaughtered while thousands are Displaced and made refugees in their own country, this was not part of the bargain made, neither was it the supposed divided of democracy promised to our people.”

“The government should and must find a means to bring an end to all security challenges bedeviling the North”, he said.

According to him, the group is demanding that Borno youths be recruited into the Nigerian Army, Police and NSCDC for immediate deployment to the North-East state to help tackle the security challenges currently facing the area

The youth group added that, “as a Coalition of CSOs, who have watched over the years with keen interest the security challenges, especially in the North East, we must say; enough is enough “.

“The killings of innocent people in the North must stopped. The government should find a means whichever possible to bring an end to this senseless killings”, the Alliance said.

The group further said the fundamental essence of having a government is the protection of life and property as enshrined under section 14 sub-section 2(b) of the 1999 construction of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

He said there is need to re-strategize, especially as regards to intelligence gathering and effective collaboration with various communities of Borno because it is quite obvious that the current strategy is no longer working as could seen by the recent attack perpetrated by the insurgents.

The group equally called on the federal government to ensure that the families of the deceased were compensated adequately to relief them of their pains.