A notable Northern group, Arewa Think Tank (ATT), has commended the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, over comments on a new terrorist group known as Lakurawa in the northwest and for assuring that security agencies will flush out the group in no distant time.
Arewa Think Tank said it was exceptionally excited over Ribadu’s stance that ‘nobody dares Tinubu and wins’ particularly over security challenges across the country.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had penultimate week confirmed the terror group’s presence in Sokoto and Kebbi states.
In a statement at the weekend by the Convener of ATT, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, he said members of Arewa Think Tank watched with keen interest when Ribadu spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 2024 comptroller-general of customs conference.
“From that day we realised that the new terror group came from the Niger Republic after the coup that led to the breakdown of military cooperation between Nigeria and the neighbouring country.
“We are excited that the NSA said the Boko Haram terrorists have been decimated and are on the run, moving to neighbouring countries.
“We noted that Ribadu attributed the feat to what he called Tinubu gains and added that hundreds of bandits are being killed daily by security operatives.
“We listened to Ribadu saying, ‘we are beginning to see the gains—what we call Tinubu gains. Hundreds of bandits are killed every day. Tinubu gains. We move everywhere in our country today free of fear, Tinubu gains. Things are changing,”
“Arewa Think Tank is urging all security agencies to ensure that this so-called Lakurawa or whatever they call themselves are making a mistake because as Ribadu rightly pointed out nobody ever dares Tinubu and win. They have come at the wrong time; nobody has ever defeated Tinubu.
“ATT is indeed overwhelming about the reassuring comments by the NSA that security agencies will kick the so-called Lakurawa out of our country. This is Nigeria of 2024, and we can say that very soon critics will be quiet one after the other. Things will change in our country for the better.
“It is gratifying to note that our security agencies are on top of the game as Boko Haram, which has been ravaging our country, is now on the run. Its members are now moving to other neighbouring countries because Nigeria is no longer conducive for their operations.”
“We also noted that the conference aligned with the government’s vision of fostering strategic partnerships and collaborative approaches to governance and economic management,” the statement said.
The statement further commended Ribadu over comments on the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu which according to him has ended smuggling across the country as only few Nigerians were benefiting from the policy.
“We agreed with the NSA that Nigeria was only subsidising neighbouring countries as a result of smuggling that was going on in the border communities.
“We are satisfied with his explanation that the subsidy that all of us are talking about that has brought NNPC to its knees was only serving neighbouring countries and not even Nigerians, that Nigeria was subsidising Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Benin Republic, Ghana and the smart Nigerians who called themselves oil marketers,” he said.
