Borno killings: Protect yourselves, Arewa group tells Northerners

By OKWE OBI, Abuja

Angered by the recent decapitation of over 100 rice farmers at Zabarmari, in Borno State, Pan-Arewa social political organization, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has advised the people of the region to protect themselves against bandits.

Addressing newsmen Saturday in Abuja, CNG Spokesman, Abul-Azeez Sulieman, said the advice became necessary because of the inability of the Federal Government to stop the incessant banditry ravaging the region.

Sulieman noted that even the utterances of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu; Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; and Chief of Army Staff, Leu-Gen. Tukur Buratai, “exposed the misleading claims that the President Muhammadu Buhari government and our military have decimated the insurgents…”

He said: “We are thus agitated by the lame unsympathetic excuse of breaching army protocol by the slain farmers made by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the indecent and callous attribution of the people’s anger and frustration to mere politicking by Information Minister, Lai Mohammed and the unhelpful, scary twenty-year life span prediction for the rampaging security situation by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.

“In the light of the current general and pervasive insecurity being felt across the North with regularity of attacks, killings, kidnapping, insurgency, highway robberies and the sacking of entire communities and the realization that leaders such as the ones we have, who cannot be advised or criticized, are a liability, have increased our conviction that the only remaining option is for the people to mobilize for a regulated self protection.”

He pointed out that the wide condemnation that greeted the recent killing was because of the high number, noting that “these killings and kidnaps by audacious criminal gangs that roam freely are constant across all communities and highways in northern Nigeria.”

He disclosed that CNG would convoke an all Northern Nigeria security review in Kaduna State, on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th December 2020.

According to him, “the review session shall draw representation from security experts, traditional and religious groups, the civil society, business community, government, trade, youth and women associations from each of the 19 northern states to discuss how to achieve; comprehensive synergy between states from uniform action as against the isolated responses that have proved ineffective;

“Mobilize of broad based community action; improvement of security/community cooperation in especially information sharing imperatives.” (Saturday Sun)