Former Minister of Education and Co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to “stop showing loyalty to an incompetent security infrastructure” and immediately put an end to the killings in the country.
Ezekwesili said this on Tuesday when she embarked on a solo protest to the Presidential Villa in the wake of fresh killings in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
Although she was prevented by security officials at the entrance of the Villa, she told Channels Television that all she wanted to do was tell the President to “stop the killings”.
“I refuse to be an accomplice to what’s going on in this society now,” she said.
“In this match, I went as far as I could be allowed to the Villa, to say to the president, “stop the killings”.
“Nigeria cannot be a vast canvas for killings of citizens. Stop the blood flow; especially of innocent children”.
Since a wave of killings took the country by storm, throwing families into mourning and displacing Nigerians, there have been calls on President to shake up the country’s security set up.
There have also been calls for the removal of the security chiefs, especially the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris.
In February, the Senate had called for the removal of Mr Idris over the increased violence and killings across the country, especially in Benue State.
The calls for his removal followed reports that he had failed to comply with the President’s directive to relocate to the state, days after suspected herdsmen struck and killed 73 people.
Also, the security agencies have been accused of complicity in the killings with former Minister of Defence Lt General Theophilus Danjuma accusing the military of colluding with killer herdsmen.
President Buhari has, however, retained all the security chiefs and the heads of other security agencies.
In reaction to the reports that the IGP had failed to comply with his orders, he confessed that he did not know the IGP had “disobeyed” the order.
He added that as a loyal leader, he would engage the IGP for inquiries explaining that he was loyal to those under him, whether or not they were loyal to him.
“At every level, you have to be loyal to people below you. Whether that person is loyal to you or not is totally a different thing,” President Buhari said at the time.
Ezekwesili, however, believes the current security set up has to change for the killings to end.
“If the President continues to show his loyalty to an incompetent security infrastructure that is there and permitting the deaths of our citizens, if he prefers his loyalty to them because of their loyalty to him as a person, in utter disregard to the Nigerian People, I need the President who takes pride in talking about his personal integrity, to know that such action is abuse of power,” she said. – Channels.
