NATFORCE: Group appeals to NSA to reverse disbandment order

An anti-violence Non-Governmental Organization, Coalition for Peaceful Co-Existence (CPC-E), has appealed to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), to revisit the disbandment order placed on the National Taskforce on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms, Ammunition, Light Weapons, Chemical Weapons and Pipeline Vandalism (NATFORCE).

The appeal, according to the leader of the Coalition, Rev. Josiah Haroun, to revisit the matter is with a view to reversing the clampdown order placed on the security organisation to give room for proper steps that would be democratic and in conformity with the law of the land.

The Coalition, in a signed statement said, the outrage occasioned by the NSA’s order was borne out of the peoples observations that, “the order contravene some rules of law and democratic ethos,” admonishing that, “in a civilised clime like ours, things are expected to be done in line with democratic norms and democratic principles.”

The NGO was reacting to the declaration that the NATFORCE is an illegal security outfit by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Monguno (Rtd), an action the coalition view as “hasty, pre-emptive and undemocratic.”

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The statement reads further: “it appears undemocratic and hasty because it is in the public domain that the National Assembly, the two legislative houses of the land are already in possession of a Bill on the matter for deliberation. The deliberation has reached the second reading stage. One expects that the office of the NSA should exercise patience till the end of the legislative efforts before striking. The action, against this background, to us, is pre-emptive, hasty and undemocratic.

“On the other hand, the action, which came after a court of competent jurisdiction has given the outfit a clean slate of health by declaring it legal, appears against the rule of law. It is expected that, the action should not have come before the vacation of the court verdict said to have been given since 2013.

“We should quickly add at this juncture that, the Coalition has no vested interest in the NATFORCE floated by Dr. Baba Mohammed beside the general national interest on how the country would be secure, our concern is the setback the clamp down on it could cause for the fight against insecurity in the land.

“In addition, the almost 300, 000 youth it would clear off the streets and the labour market through employment is of great satisfaction to us. And the retention of that population on the streets and in the labour market when the outfit is banned from operation is also, equally of great concern to us.”

In conclusion, the Coalition suggested that, such an outfit and others like it should be supported and assisted to contribute their quotas to augment the efforts of the authorities in the fight against all forms of security challenges in the country, asserting that, doing so with patriotic zeal would be of great relief to all and sundry.