LINUS CHIBUIKE
THE Peoples Democratic Party has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently convene a national security summit to deliberate on the way forward in view of what it called the endless blood letting of innocent Nigerians.
National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, indicated that under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, life had become so cheap, with killings taking place across the country on a daily basis.
He said Nigeria was grounded by insecurity and there had been no matching response from government despite its constitutional duty of protecting the citizens.
Secondus made these positions public in his keynote address, presented at the 91st emergency National Executive Committee meeting of the party in Abuja.
He said, “For us as opposition, any sacrifice to stop the endless bloodletting of innocent citizens should be activated, including but not limited to the immediate convocation of a national conference on security for comprehensive and all-embracing deliberation on the future of this country.
“Our country today is grounded by insecurity and there has been no matching response from government despite the demands of the 1999 operating constitution in Section 14 (2b) that ‘the welfare and security of the citizens shall be the primary purpose of government.'”
The PDP National Chairman said before the All Progressives Congress administration took over, the North-East bore the imprints of terrorism.
He, however, noted that the insecurity situation had since spread to every part of the country today.
He stated, “Terrorists in the North before were confined to the North-East region but today, 50 villages have been reportedly taken by them in the North-Central state of Niger. Where they are now, we hear is about two hours drive away from Abuja.
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West. Gunmen are causing havoc in the East, and the militants in the South, all killing, looting, raping, maiming, and burning down homes. The situation is bad, Nigerians all over are living in fear.
“The deplorable security situation in our country is already saturating the local and international media space that I need not bore you again.”
Secondus added that the party’s emergency NEC meeting had to be convened to enable the PDP to add its voice to the growing condemnation of the mass killings of innocent Nigerians across the country.
He stressed, “Travel guide recently released by the United States for their touring citizens based on their intelligence gathering, listed 14 states that they should avoid for security reasons.
“Kano State Government just announced the closure of schools in the state due to security threat. Fear of attack has clearly frustrated the schooling system in the North-West.
“The record of student abduction in Kaduna State alone has been unprecedented. Hardly a day passes without an incident of killing, kidnapping, etc, in the state. This is notwithstanding the high concentration of security operatives.”
The party chieftain said the picture out there was worse than he had painted because there were many other unreported cases.
He added, “The banditry and herdsmen menace is taking huge tolls on our food production as farmers avoid their farms to be alive.
“Clearly, anarchy is being let loose on the people with the government unable to provide any resistance. We have therefore invited you to enable the party as the main opposition in the country to add its voice to the worrisome situation with a view to saving not just democracy but even the country.
“Having shown clearly its incapacity, the All Progressives Congress, APC led-government has swallowed its pride and now invited the international community to come and help out. This ought to have been done long ago instead of pretending and spilling innocent blood.”
According to him, if Nigeria is not secured, the 2023 elections may not hold.
