Insecurity: North under siege by bandits- elders cry out

*Say it ‘ll take over 100 years for region to recover from destruction, trauma

Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja

Northern elders in the country have alleged that the region is under siege by Boko Haram, bandits, and kidnappers saying, until something is done immediately the region may not be recover from the loss.

The elders therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to device new approach in restoring peace in the troubled area as the situation has grounded educational, economic and sociopolitical activities.

The elders under the auspices of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development in a statement on Tuesday claimed the ugly situation was being under-reported by the media.

According to the statement signed by their National Coordinator, Engr. Zana Goni, the Coalition reiterated their call on President Buhari to as a matter of urgency sack service chiefs and totally restructure the nation’s security architecture.

The elders claimed that it would take the region over 100 years to recover from destruction, killings and trauma associated with the insecurity in the region if the development was not brought under total control now.

while insisting that it was time for the president to relieve the nation’s security heads and try new hands, they threatened to mobilize Nigerians from other parts of the country against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections if their demands for the administration to stop stop the killings in their region through adoption of new approach was ignored.

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They, however, hailed the appointment of the former Military Administrator of Lagos State, General Buba Marwa as Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, by the president, describing it as a right step in the right direction.

Noting that drug abuse was one of the major promoters of insecurity in the North, the Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development called on the new NDLEA boss to be more decisive with drugs peddlers, with a view to ending the menace not only in the region but also other parts of the country.

“We wish to confirm that the entire North is still under siege from Boko Haram, banditry, Kidnapping and other forms of criminality. This ugly security situation we noticed, has been under-reported. We are concerned over this poor media coverage by the media,” it said.

The group added:”The inability of the service chiefs to change the game against terrorists, bandits and kidnappers threatening the continued existence of the region despite the heavy investment made by the president so far to ensure restoration of peace, is no doubt worrisome to us. We believe wholeheartedly too, that this development is a source of great concern to all patriotic Nigerians out there.”

“From what is on ground, it would take the North East more than 100 years to recover even if the war stops today,” they claimed.

“As we write this to present our plight to the public, there is no school opened to academic activities in the region, except perhaps in Maiduguri metropolis of Borno State. Farmers can’t go to farms anymore especially in the North East, fearing our concerns of severe famine if the situation is not immediately addressed.

” Also,markets,buying and selling besides other economic activities have been brought to a total halt as a result of the activities of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers. There is equally no social activities anymore in the region as people preferably stay in their various houses now to avert being prowled on by the adversaries,”the statement said.

“We express our profound gratitude to the president for the appointment of our son, General Buba Marwa as the Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA).

“We must confess that it is a right step in the right direction because drug abuse is one of the major banes of security in the North. We know his pedigree and we are sure he would deliver on his mandate,” the group said.

Dwelling more on the need for urgent restructuring of security architecture, the coalition said:”We kindly appeal to Mr President to equally and urgently restructure the entire security architecture so as to give the war against insurgence a big boost.”

“Until we change the security architecture, nothing meaningful will be achieved in the war against insecurity,” it claimed.

The group said it would not hesitate to move all out and canvass for votes against the ruling APC in the 2023 election, thus costing the president opportunity to have a successor of his choice should their demand not heeded to.