The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, on Thursday described as worrisome the approach of the Federal Government, under the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress, APC, to the insecurity plaguing the country.
While stressing that the current strategy is placing undue pressure on the military, the group urged President Tinubu and the National Assembly to rise to their constitutional responsibility and duty to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.
At an emergency meeting held in Abuja, SMBLF, in a communiqué signed by Oba Oladipo Olaitan (Afenifere), Dr Bitrus Pogu (Middle Belt Forum), Senator John Azuta-Mbata (Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide), and Amb. Godknows Igali (PANDEF), recommended that police officers below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police be deployed to their states of origin for more effective policing.
According to the group, pending the attainment of true federalism, state governments should immediately take steps to ensure the security of their citizens through mechanisms similar to the Amotekun South West Security Network, equipped with the full complement of weapons necessary to confront and deter insurgency and terrorism.
The communiqué read: “The Federal Government of Nigeria and particularly the National Assembly must now accept their failure to provide the most fundamental security of life and property across the country whilst we witness the impunity of Fulani terrorists and their foreign collaborators wrecking genocidal attacks on indigenous communities across the nation and particularly in the Middle Belt region, as is happening currently in Benue State.”;
Meanwhile, SMBLF described any appointments into state agencies and local governments, or moves to conduct elections by the military administrator of Rivers State, as illegal.
While urging that the state be returned to normal democratic dispensation without further delay, the group called on the National Assembly to uphold its oversight responsibilities with dignity and without compromise.
