By Tom Okpe
A member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Salama has warned that Nigeria is tottering on the brink of collapse with the unfettered activities of bandits, terrorists and other criminal activities in the country.
Salama who represents Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency of Osun State posited that Nigeria is becoming a jungle of sorts where criminals carve out turfs and operate freely without let or hindrance, DailyTimes gathered.
He said this is re-enforced by the ease with which criminal elements take on security operatives, recalling how an attack on Nigeria’s elite military institution, Nigeria Defence Academy, (NDA) in August 2021 left two officers dead with another senior officer abducted.
The attack and many others elsewhere according to the lawmaker have belittled the nation’s security agencies and have caused Nigerians to lose faith in the ability of their government to protect their inalienable rights to life and property.
“President Buhari must rekindle that confidence and a good place to start would be, working assiduously to secure release of the kidnapped Kaduna train victims.
“Reports and video footages emanating from their abductors are not encouraging. Lives of the hostages hang in the balance as the Federal Government seemingly at its wits end, prevaricates on such sensitive matter of national importance,” he said.
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He lamented that too many precious Nigerian lives have been lost to kidnappers and other malevolent individuals to permit the hapless victims of the train hijack to become the latest statistics of a nefarious enterprise that has sullied national image.
The lawmaker yesterday embarked on a lone protest, trekking from the Unity fountain barefooted to the National Assembly complex with a placard where he briefed newsmen on the urgent need to rescue those abducted in the ill-fated train.
“One of the key dimensions of this criminality is the unholy practice of kidnapping for ransom, which according to reports has spawned a billion naira industry in the last seven years.
“What is clear is that kidnapping is a clear and present danger to our nation with needless loss of lives with its attendant effect on the national psyche.
“This defect reflects badly on government. No government can aspire to legitimacy and relevance if it fails the basic test of ensuring the safety and well-being of the people who elected it into office,” he said.
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