Southern, Middle Belt Forum Demands Restructured Nigeria On 2014 Confab

The Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum (SMBLF) has said only a restructured Nigeria based on the 2014 national conference recommendations can guarantee security, justice and equity for all citizens.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday on the forum’s position over the recent mass abduction of over 100 Kurmin Wali worshippers last Sunday, SMBLF spokesman, Luka Binniyat, said the forum was demanding the immediate rescue of the abductees and the urgent deployment of military and intelligence resources.

He called for the establishment of properly funded community vigilante outfits in Southern Kaduna and a joint regional security outfit for the North Central states among others.

The forum’s spokesman also maintained that state police must be created to tackle insecurity.

While advising state governors against negotiating with bandits, he said such appeasement had worsened insecurity and turned the Middle Belt into the most fertile ground for kidnapping and banditry.

“Our four leaders in the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum (SMBLF)  have already made our position on the Kajuru mass kidnap and related matters known.

They are: Oba Oladipo Olaitan, leader of the SMBLF and leader of Afinefere. Dr Pogu Bitrus, the president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF); H.E Ambassador Godknows Igali, the national chairman, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and Senator John Azuta-Mbata-president-general, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide were also signatories to the statement.

“As the spokesman of the SMBLF, I want to reiterate some of the salient points raised in that statement: We strongly condemn the abduction of 177 Adara natives from Kurmin Wali village in Kajuru, which is in the Middle Belt. Our leaders describe it as a barbaric act of terrorism against innocent worshippers and indigenous communities of the Middle Belt.

“The forum stands in full solidarity with the victims, their families and all communities under siege across the region.

“Finally, the forum asserts that only a restructured Nigeria based on the 2014 National Conference recommendations, can guarantee security, justice, and equity for all citizens.”