Umbrella Northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, on Tuesday, expressed fears about the security of the Nigerian nation under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
ACF said during its Board of Trustees meeting in Kaduna that it was worried that Nigerians were no longer safe and secure under the incumbent government.
The Forum’s National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, stated this while speaking with newsmen shortly after the BoT meeting at the ACF Secretariat.
Yawe said that ACF had become fed up with complaints about the lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Government to the problem of insecurity.
The ACF spokesman stated that Nigerian leaders should tell citizens what would have happened if Boko Haram had abducted their own children.
According to him, “Today’s (Tuesday) meeting is very crucial to the operations of the ACF because it is the first meeting of the newly constituted Board of Trustees.
“We discussed security and we are worried because Nigerians are not very secure. We are not happy about insecurity in the country. We are looking at the immediate ways and long term of getting security improved.”
ACF said it was very disturbing that the government could still say they were negotiating with the terrorists on the release of the schoolboys.
Yawe said, “It has been in the news that over 300 students were kidnapped and taken away in Katsina and the government is saying they are negotiating with the kidnappers to free the students.
“These are some of the things that are very distressful and disturbing to all members of the ACF. We are not happy with the security situation at all.
“We have called on government several times and we keep on saying that we are not going to allow banditry to take over our country.
“Bandits went to the school, packed students on bikes, and took them to the forest. Whatever is happening to them in the forest, nobody knows. The situation is very distressing. Our leaders should tell us what will happen if their children are among those kidnapped.”
The ACF spokesman further said, “ACF complained about this insecurity in its October meeting, nothing was done. We are in December with the same complaint, nothing is being done.
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“We are even tired of complaining. The government should have the love of a poor man at heart because it is a poor man that is really suffering. It is really sad. It is even ridiculing the country in the eyes of the international communities.
“Both the police and the Army seems to have been overwhelmed. It is really a distressful situation. The government should find ways of protecting the lives and property of the citizens because it is written there in the Constitution. If the government cannot do that, then it is really sad and unfortunate.”
