Insecurity: I live with grief daily, Buhari confesses

President Muhammadu Buhari has decried the level of insecurity in the country but noted that his administration will leave no stone unturned to make sure that the 2023 gener­al elections hold without any breach of peace.

The President said his heart grieves for the several persons who have fallen victims to acts of terrorism, insisting that efforts were on to free the ab­ductees, especially those of the Abuja-Kaduna train attacks who are still under captivity.

The assurance came as part of the Democracy Day broad­cast by the President on Sunday, morning.

According to the President, “I know many of us are con­cerned with the rise in insecu­rity due to terrorist activities in parts of the country. As a gov­ernment, we are working hard to contain and address these challenges. And ensure that the 2023 general elections are safe and secure for all Nigerians.

“To achieve this however, we must all contribute. It is not the job of government alone. I ask all citizens to support and coop­erate with our security agencies by reporting any suspicious characters and activities to law enforcement agencies. We can only have a safe country if we are able to prevent crime not after the crime has been com­mitted.

“On this special day, I want us all to put all victims of ter­rorist activities in our thoughts and prayers. I am living daily with the grief and worry for all those victims and prisoners of terrorism and kidnapping. I and the security agencies are doing all we can to free those unfortunate countrymen and countrywomen safely.

“For those who have lost their lives, we will continue to seek justice for their families against the perpetrators. For those currently in captivity, we will not stop until they are freed, and their kidnappers are brought to justice. If we all unite, we will be victorious against these agents of terror and destruction.

“We have reformed some of our security structures. Some of the defence assets we pro­cured three years ago have ar­rived and have been deployed.

“Our cyber security and surveillance systems are being upgraded to further enhance our ability to track and trace criminal elements. We are also recruiting and training new personnel across all our secu­rity and intelligence agencies to strengthen the country’s over-all security”.

Buhari also commented on the conclusion of party prima­ries in the country, which has produced respective flagbear­ers both at local and national levels, saying the level of deco­rum from all the political glad­iators has been quite revealing and encouraging of our demo­cratic journey over the years.

He adduced reasons why the Federal Government re­viewed the Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12, say­ing it was in honour of the late MKO Abiola who sacri­ficed his life to birth a new Nigeria.

His words: “Fellow Nigeri­ans, today, June the 12th, marks another Democracy Day anni­versary and an occasion to cel­ebrate freedom and unity of our nation.”

He added: “Fellow Nigerians this is my last Democracy Day speech as your President. By June 12th, 2023, exactly one year from today, you will already have a new President. I remain committed and determined to ensure that the new President is elected through a peaceful and transparent process.”

Speaking on the recently concluded primaries, he said: “Recently, all registered polit­ical parties conducted prima­ries to select their candidates for the 2023 general elections.

“These primaries were peaceful and orderly. Those who won were magnanimous in their victories. Those who lost were gracious in defeat. And those aggrieved opted to seek judicial justice as op­posed to jungle justice.

“I followed the party pri­maries closely from the state level to the Presidential level. I was very impressed to see across all the political parties that, most candidates ran is­sued based campaigns. The language and tone through­out were on the whole mea­sured and controlled.”

He continued: “I will con­clude this Democracy Day speech, my last as President, by assuring you of my com­mitment to protect Nigeria and Nigerians from all en­emies from within and out­side. (Sunday Independent)