HURIWA backs Buhari on cause of insecurity

Canvasses end to persecution of Kanu
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, supported President Muhammadu Buhari on the cause of insecurity in the country, saying the position canvassed, recently, by the President during his state visit to Owerri, Imo State, blaming the elite for heightened state of insecurity in the country is correct.

The rights group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, noted that the South East, which used to be peaceful and economically viable, has become a major insecurity flashpoint since Buhari’s government assumed office and began implementation of skewed policies, including explicit exclusion of representatives of Igbo speaking states in virtually all strategic national security institutions.

Onwubiko explained that this has shaped the thinking of millions of South East youths, who now feel that the Igbos are no longer wanted in the united Nigerian federation, thereby, pushing groups to canvass for self-determination, which, they believe, is supported by global human rights laws.

The statement reads: “The negative reactions to the peaceful exercise of advocacy for self-determination by both the political elite of Federal Government and the South East states compounded the problems of insecurity, which got instigated by the selective prescription of the peaceful agitation for self rule by the now proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

“We are convinced that President Buhari stated the truth and nothing but the truth during his recent state visit to Imo, when he blamed the elite for insecurity in parts of Nigeria.

“Primarily, the political class is solely responsible for the menace, and has continued to stoke up the fires of insecurity through crass misgovernance, corruption and lack of empathy for the suffering masses of Nigeria. The policy of divide-and-rule and the nepotistic appointments are at the roots of heightened state of insecurity and distrust in the country.”

Meanwhile, the rights group said it has, for the umpteenth time, canvassed for an end to the persecution of Nnamdi Kanu and his proscribed IPOB, when such notorious and divisive groups like the Miyetti Allah Cattle Owners Association, perceived to be the sponsor of armed attacks on farming communities across the country, and have killed over 3,000 citizens in Southern Kaduna, Benue states, as well as other communities, are still being spared and, indeed, perceived to be pampered by top government officials.