A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Jonathan Vatsa, has asked the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to withdraw a statement credited to him that Nigeria is becoming safer and safer in the hand of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that the country is currently going through the worst security situation since independence.
The former Commissioner for Information and culture in Niger State told journalists that the security situation in the country had continued to deteriorate on daily basis with no end in sight.
The former Publicity Secretary of APC in Niger state believed that never in the history of the country that innocent Nigerians, including security agents had “been killed like we are experiencing across the country today,” and wondered “why people like the Minister of Information has refused to tell the authority the truth because of what they are eating.”
The former Commissioner who was reacting to the terrorists attack on Abuja-Kaduna bound train which left many promising Nigerians killed and the sustained attacks on communities across Niger state by the gunmen in the last six days, pointed out that “whether the government wants to admit it or not, the truth is that it has failed Nigerians in all aspects of human endeavour”.
Vatsa argued that never in the history of Nigeria had “blood flowed the way it is flowing now with innocent people being slaughtered and lives cut short every day without protection, yet someone is there taking the people for granted with his unguarded comments that the country is safer in the midst of this bloodbath.”
According to him, “not even during the country’s civil war that people were killed the way they are being killed today. At no point in the country’s history since independence that lives became meaningless like this.
“The primary responsibility of any government is the protection of lives and properties of which this government has failed at all levels. People are not safe in their houses, they are not safe in their farms, they are not safe on the road, they are not safe on the rail, and very soon, they might not be safe in the air”.
Vatsa challenged the Minister to take a media tour of the local government areas of Niger and Kaduna states before he can draw conclusions, saying “when you sit down in Abuja and be issuing statement just to protect your job, posterity will not forgive you.
“I challenge Mr. Minister to tour the country by road, particularly Niger and Kaduna states, let us see if the country is safer in the hand of Buhari or not. That is the only way we draw conclusions”.
He disclosed that in Niger state for instance, the government is overwhelmed by the activities of the gunmen with every resource now being channeled to security, stressing that despite this, the situation has refused to improve with more communities being attacked by gunmen.
Vatsa reiterated that with the current security situation in Niger state, with about eight out of the 25 local government under siege of terrorists, the 2023 election will be a mirage, saying that “if at all INEC decided to go ahead with the elections, such exercise can never be credible”.
Vatsa the activities of the bandits are even worse than terrorism, “especially now that they are beginning to use explosive devices, targeting national assets like the train and rail lines.”
He warned that “no ethnic group can hold this country to ransom for any reason”.
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