PANDEF compels presidency to man up over insecurity
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, the mouthpiece of Niger-Delta people, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and all service chiefs to speak up on matters concerning Boko Haram and insecurity across the country.
Speaking on behalf of PANDEF, the chairman of the group, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga, retd. condemned the killings of innocent Nigerians and advised that fast actions by the federal government will be the best way to cull such rate of insecurity.
In his words; “I think it is the President that has to answer the question himself because some of them have tried to give answers in the past and did not answer the question.
“To get the volume of arms we are talking about, it must be at a higher level. So how did they pass into the country without the intelligence chiefs knowing about it, without the security people knowing about it? And if they did, did they report it, what action was taken, what is the government stand on it?
“What is our national interest because this is very critical in putting together even the people who are fighting? If such volume of arms is coming from the border, what does the man do, does he allow them to pass through or does he arrest the person and make him face the consequences?
“I think the president asked them and we, too, should ask them to speak up and tell us where the arms are coming from. ‘This is what we have tried to do, to stop it, we have reported to these people, this is what they have done.’ Other than that, I have no answer and I am not sure that even the service chiefs can answer properly because they too are working on the basis of the body language of government.
“It appears that the government says one thing and is doing another thing, what is our national interest? Let it be stated clearly because that is what the fighting forces will be ready to fight and die for.
“So if some people believe that they will pass through their borders and nothing will happen and others believe that they should not pass through, there is a problem.
‘’They should make clear what the national interest of this country is, we had it in the past, we should have it now,” Nkanga, a former Military Administrator of Akwa Ibom State asserted.
“If we do that, then we will know where the arms are coming in from and why they are coming in without anybody talking about it.
“Up till today, nobody has said they caught arms coming in and they are prosecuting the people, nobody, so why it is like that if not that government knows anything about it or the people are not doing much about it.”
Nwada Ugochinyere Onyechere reporting, Obinwannem News
