Stop Politicizing Insecurity—HURIWA Warns Politicians

Political parties have been warned to desist from playing politics with the current state of insecurity in the country through their celebration in the media of a cocktail of unsubstantiated allegations of linkages of political parties other than theirs in the sponsorship of violent insurgencies in parts of Nigeria.

HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA [HURIWA] a democracy inclined Non-Governmental Organization in a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss. Zainab Yusuf specifically called on the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] and the opposition All Progressives Congress [APC] to stop the ongoing needless media war and counter accusations of speculated connection of the political parties to the ongoing violent insurgencies in Northern Nigeria.

HURIWA said that rather than play up political sentiments about the bloody insurgencies that have ravaged Northern Nigeria and which have resulted in the massacre of several thousands of innocent Nigerians, the political parties should be responsible enough as to commission independent experts and scholars with considerable amount of expertise on security matters to proffer practicable and effective panacea to the needless killings of innocent Nigerians and to salvage the nation from the imminent threats of collapse under the heavy weight of violent terrorism.

"Political parties ought to assist the federal government to resolve the ongoing terrorists attacks and not aggravate the insecurity situation through their careless allegations that are not backed up with any empirical data and evidence that can stand the test of scientific and investigative scrutiny".

HURIWA recalled that the national publicity secretaries of both the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress have recently authored vexatious and sensational allegations of collusion and conspiratorial linkages with terrorists and insurgents against the hierarchies of the political parties just as the Peoples Democratic Party specifically mentioned the erstwhile Presidential flag bearer of the Congress of Progressives Congress [CPC] now with the All Progressives Congress General Muhammadu Buhari and erstwhile FCT minister Mallam Nassir ElRuffai as alleged supporters of the Boko Haram insurgents.

Condemning the sensational and reckless verbal exchanges by the two political parties, the Rights Group called on President Good luck Jonathan and the security chiefs to call these political chieftains to order to avoid laying politics with the delicate matter of national security and/or prosecute them for working against the national security interest should they continue to play politics with the serious national security interest of Nigeria.

"There is definitely the borderline of national security interest of Nigeria with the exercise of freedom of speech. It is not within the realm of free speech for registered political parties that have formed governments at both the national and geo-political levels to issue frivolous allegations of serious matter of collusion with the armed terrorists who are threatening the territorial integrity of Nigeria without sufficient and irrefutable body of concrete evidence that are sustainable and provable in the courts of competent jurisdiction.

There is indeed a wide chasm between enjoyment of freedom of speech and rumor peddling with such a grave issue that could endanger national security. The two dominant political parties and their officials must be called to order to stop spreading hate messages that inflame passion and creates division amongst the diverse people of Nigeria along the lines of religion and regionalism."