Consider Trump’s Threat As Wake-Up Call, Group Tells Govt

A human rights group, Forum for Citizens Rights (FFCR), has tasked the federal government to see the recent reaction to insecurity in the country by the United States as a wake-up call.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the Convener of the group, Comrade Adamu Khalid, noted that there are positives in the United States’ reaction to the incident.

According to him, although some critics and government officials have pointed out flaws in the reaction, it was another way of telling the government to be more proactive in tackling insecurity.

He reasoned that the fact that Nigeria has continued to spend enormous resources for over ten years in tackling the menace with minimal results should be a cause for concern.

“As a group that has been providing support for victims of insecurity across the country, the issue remains at an alarming rate.

“This has cost us so much because we continue to expend a lot of scarce resources on victims and their families.

A victim of insecurity, Habeeb Oseni, who was kidnapped along with his brother and a friend, also lent his voice virtually on the need to battle insecurity frontally.

According to him, since the incident, he has had to nurse both physical and psychological bruises from the attack inflicted on him by the insurgents.

“It was around 4:30 when they kidnapped me, my brother and a close friend. I was on my way to work in Nzuda town, Damboa Local Government Area, in Borno State, in 2019.

“I was 27 then. The attackers, who were later identified as Boko Haram, took me, my younger brother, Yusuf and my friend, Ibrahim, Salisu and many others into a forest camp on June 14, 2019.

“It was followed by weeks of terror as our captors subjected us to indoctrination and military drills.

“They trained us in weapon handling and threatened to kill us if we disobeyed.

Then came a day we thought was the breaking point, a day we were sent for an operation to bomb markets and other public places, and the three of us tried to escape, not knowing we were being monitored. The outcome was tragic as they mercilessly killed my brother and my friend.

“I was the only one who managed to escape into the forest, wounded and bleeding and was lucky to escape into the Niger Republic and remained separated from my family and friends to date,” he lamented.

The group’s executive secretary, Kabir Adamu, noted that Habeeb was only lucky to tell his story, as many who dared to escape met their untimely death.

He counselled Nigerians and the International community to rally round the federal government to ensure that insecurity is defeated on all fronts, while providing support to victims of insecurity.