UNMASK BOKO HARAM NOW -BUHARI TELLS JONATHAN
From former Head of State, Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, came yesterday posers for the Federal Government on the spate of terrorism that may have overwhelmed the authorities. He was worried over government's tardiness. To him, the Presidency must act now if only to earn the confidence of the citizenry that their lives and property are safe.
Buhari, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the April 2011 general elections, was reacting to last Friday's bombing of the United Nations (UN) House in Abuja and other unresolved attacks since October 1, 2010.
Speaking through his spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, Buhari said that the serial bombings that have taken place in Nigeria, from last October 1, to the latest UN building attack, portend great danger for this country.
Buhari said that for a country that had been ranked as the 14th most failing nation in the world, these are serious signals that should be taken seriously because they suggest that all is not well with Nigeria because the primary focus of any government should be the security of lives and property. He said that there is a wave of terrorism all over the world, noting that serious countries have shown serious efforts to combat the trend, saying the reverse is the case in Nigeria.
'Yes, there is a wave of terrorism all over the world, but serious countries have shown serious efforts to combat the trend. But in our own case, in our own country, there is yet to be any serious attempt by the government and the security agencies to contain or to go after those who are perpetrating this evil.
'Up till now, we are yet to see any footage on the UN building attack.
Does it mean that there is no Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in that place?
'What has happened to the report by the UN officials that they informed the Nigerian government ahead of this bombing? These are serious issues that we must address as a nation.
'All we hear at the end of each attack is either the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claims responsibility and the President says it is not MEND and cannot tell us who it is; or we hear that it is Raymond Dokpesi because he is supporting a different politician and once he comes back to support the President, he is no longer the one throwing the bomb. They no longer trace anything to his phone.
'And you come to other situations where somebody claimed that somebody called from somewhere and said it is Boko Haram that has done it and up till date, he has not been able to put any face on Boko Haram to any bombing. This carnage has to stop immediately,' Buhari said. On the statement made by the Inspector-General (IG) of Police, Hafiz Ringim, that some suspects have been arrested over the UN blast including the reassurance given to the diplomatic corps of their safety in Nigeria, Buhari said the IG's statement is the usual approach of the Nigerian leadership.
'When has the President and his media aides become the first line of briefing in matters of arrest? Is it not the IG who is supposed to do that? It clearly shows that there is an attempt to cover up something, somewhere.
'It is the usual, incompetent approach of the Nigerian leadership. The diplomatic corps who were called, will not be fools to assume that a man who could not even protect his own police headquarters from being bombed, will now guarantee them and they go to sleep. They should not assume that everybody that they are talking to, is a fool.
'Now, they said that they have arrested some people; where are they? Did they not say that after the bombing of the police headquarters that they arrested some Boko Haram members? Where are they? Which court were they prosecuted?
'These people are reducing governance to a child's play. They are making us a joke to the whole world. Is this how a serious government should respond to this kind of national embarrassment, national carnage?,' Buhari asked.
Lamenting the absence of a proactive response to the situation, Buhari said that by now, the topmost echelon of the security forces should get cracking, adding that there is nobody in charge, trying to put a stop to the carnage.
'We have seen a commander-in-chief that is holding a security council meeting and shaking off the whole security system and getting a crack team that can go after those criminals.
'We cannot just fold our arms and think that these things will just go away. But we have not seen that in process. Just like we are not seeing any serious direction in governance, we are not seeing any serious effort to address the security challenges afflicting this country.
'And now, people cannot sleep with their two eyes closed, people cannot walk on the streets and feel safe and even when they hear the exhaust of a vehicle backfiring, they will think it is bomb. People live in fear and trepidation,' Buhari lamented.