The Rebuild Arewa Initiative For Development (RAID) and the Northern Consensus Movement (NCM) have condemned the heinous abduction and murder of His Highness Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, the Emir of Gobir, urging governors in the northern region to wake up to their responsibilities.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the groups expressed dissatisfaction on the way the issue surrounding the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the late Monarch occurred.
The president of RAID,
Comrade Balarabe Rufai, who spoke on behalf of the groups, observed with dismay the wanton killings of innocent citizens and Traditional Rulers in the region by criminal elements and called for more proactive measures from security agencies to harken to their duties of protecting lives and properties of the citizenry.
While advocating for peace, unity, and development of this region, they condemned this act and also felt disappointed in how the Sokoto State Government handled the matter lackadaisically and unprofessionally which led to the killing of the monarch.
“At this juncture, we in RAID, NCM and the entire Northern Nigeria are highly disappointed with the Government of Sokoto State.
As the chief security officer of the state, they demonstrated poor capacity in protecting the Royal father who jealously served his people and state for more than 40 years.
“We are calling on some Governors in the region to as a matter of utmost priority treat insecurity as their top agenda of governance; State such: Niger, where farmers farmlands are now shared with bandits, Taraba State, where many Chiefs have been killed by bandits, the recent was the killing of the chief of Chanchangi (Chief of Ichen), Katsina State, where an SA to Governor and his wife were killed by same bandits.
“We say without mincing words that enough of the killings of our traditional fathers in Northern Nigeria and Nigeria at large. We frowned at that. We would not relent in our community engagement to curtail these heinous activities been perpetrated.”
“Insecurities and killings of innocent citizens have kept on growing unabated as if there’s no existence of government in place,” he said.
This is just as they called on all Northern Governor’s, Senators and House of representatives member’s and Security Agent’s from the Northern States to as matters of urgency Convene a Northern Security Colloquium in kaduna to honestly discuss strategies of finding a lasting solutions to the security challenges of our region, saying that it shall began Consultations towards achieving the Colloquium immediately.
“We at this juncture are urging the Minister of Defence, State Minister of Defence, all the Heads of various Security Organizations to double their efforts in the restoration of security in the North Even though they have been working day and night making various efforts towards ensuring the overall well-being of the Nation, we must admit that they need to do more than what they’re doing now for insecurity to be restored in Nigeria,” he added.
They further called on the federal government to evolve new strategy to securing lives and properties of the citizenry as Nigerian Nation can’t grow under such conditions, be deviled by the continuous killing of citizens by criminal elements, urging the federal government and the state governments to fast track the autonomy of our local government areas so that the local government administrators can asist in curbing the excessive criminality and criminal tendencies at the grassroots.
