The Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development (CNEEPP) has expressed concern over the state of insecurity in the country, saying they were highly disturbed that President Muhammadu Buhari had not taken steps to end the situation other than holding endless meetings with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa.
The elders reiterated their call for the sack of the National Security Adviser, NSA, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), the service chiefs and wholistic restructuring of the nation’s entire security architecture, saying unless such step was taken by the president urgently, the nation’s worsening security challenges may not end soon.
The elders blamed Monguno for feeding Buhari with lies and wrong advice on the security challenges just as they said the service chiefs had become bereft of fresh ideas to tackle the problem.
“Insecurity in Nigeria has become a source of concern both to Nigerians and the international community,” the group said in a statement by its national coordinator, Engr. Zana Goni, regretting that on regular basis, several civilians and soldiers are being killed by men of the underworld.
Noting that churches, mosques, residential buildings, schools and farmlands are not safe as they are regularly invaded by terrorists, the elders said in spite of the development, Buhari had continued to hesitate in hearkening to calls by experts and majority of Nigerians that the security architecture be overhauled completely.
“Some Nigerians in the North are fleeing to neighbouring countries to seek refuge. Soldiers who are supposed to be at the war front are resigning over lack of motivation from the service chiefs. In addition, there is limited supply of weapons and ammunition. At the last count, over 5,000 lives have been lost in the last five years and the number keeps increasing by the day with no solution in sight,” they said.
