Northern Youths, under the umbrella of Arewa Youth Vanguard, has faulted the “worst of insecurity is over” claim made by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
The youth maintained that the claim by the minister is not only far from reality but also a mockery of the Nigerian populace.
The minister had last week said “the worst is over” while briefing newsmen on the security situation of the country.
Mohammed said while the country may still witness isolated attacks on soft targets by terrorists, the security agencies have battled the agents of darkness and recorded massive victories against the terrorists.
But addressing journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, convener of the group, Amb Zakari Hashim backed the comment of security expert, Adejare Adegbenro on the minister’s claim.
Adegbenro, a renowned security expert who reacted to the minister’s statement had submitted that the time is not right to make what he described as “bogus statements” about the insecurity situation.
He said the minister should call on every stakeholder to work in tandem for a safe Nigeria.
Adegbenro had said, “How’s the worst over? As far as I’m concerned, Nigeria still has a lot of security gaps against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements.
“If the minister is being truthful, the best thing he could have said is we are working on it. That’s the appropriate thing to say. How many of them have gone to do on-the-spot assessments despite being in possession of bulletproof cars?
“It hurts me that the Nigeria that I see growing up is not the Nigeria I see now. When he said the worst is over, wasn’t there an attack barely 24 hours before grandstanding?
“The abduction of 32 passengers along Ondo State axis on Oluku/Owo Road. Have they been released? Even after his statement, haven’t they attacked? At times, one cannot but wish for a benevolent dictator if such a person exists.
“However, we thank God that we are a very prayerful people. Left to this bunch of political class, Nigeria would no longer be Nigeria.
“Our security strength is about 1.2 million for over 200 million people, out of this, how many are being used by Federal Government, agencies, VIPs, VVIPs. Deduct that and you will be amazed that quite a number of our security officers are protecting a few as they neglect the majority doing what bodyguards should be doing.
Supporting Adegbenro’s position, the Arewa group urged the federal government not to relax but tackle the security challenges with all resources at its disposal.
The group said: “Adegbenro, is a renowned security expert globally recognised in addressing peace and conflict resolution, he is a verse technocrat with experience to provide solutions to the security of this country and beyond.
“We call on the Minister and heads of security apparatus to bring experts to a dialogue table and chart a new cause in fighting security challenges”.
