• CDS rules out self-defence
• Ohanaeze gives Tinubu condition for re-election
Amid security concerns plaguing the country, the Senate has revealed its plan to meet with critical stakeholders in each geo-political zone to unearth the root of the menace and devise pragmatic measures to restore peace and stability in troubled areas.
Although many Nigerians have advocated community self-defence as a solution to the worsening state of insecurity in the country, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Maj-Gen Christopher Musa, has ruled against the possibility.
Meanwhile, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, informed President Bola Tinubu to forget a second tenure if he failed to address the economic hardship and escalating insecurity facing the country, asserting that “Nigerians are wiser now.”
The Senate defended the regional meeting initiative on the ground that no amount of money invested in infrastructure would guarantee any tangible outcome if peace and stability were not established in the danger zones.
Senate Leader and Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee on National Security Summit, Opeyemi Bamidele, reeled out the plans during the inaugural meeting of the committee at the Senate New Wing, National Assembly Complex, Abuja on Wednesday.
It constituted a 20-man committee on the national security summit and equally appointed Bamidele to drive the process and proffer measures for enduring peace.
But at the inaugural meeting on Wednesday, the chairman canvassed the need to address the country’s security concerns regionally, saying the national summit on security was designed “to ensure that every Nigerian lives and works in peace irrespective of their location and status in life.”
Bamidele further said no amount of money invested in infrastructure development “will translate to any meaningful outcome without peace and security. For this reason, transforming pervasive insecurity to enduring peace is at the heart of the national security summit.”
The CDS ruled out self-defence while briefing journalists after a closed-door meeting with the Tor Tiv, Prof James Ayatse; the Och’Idoma, John Odugbo and members of their traditional councils and community leaders in Makurdi, yesterday.
“Anybody bearing arms illegally will be arrested. If he threatens security forces, he will be neutralised. That is the mandate,” the CDS asserted, adding that the military is committed to restoring peace in Benue.
He also warned military personnel against complacency and reminded them of their constitutional duty to protectcitizens.
In a statement in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, yesterday, the Deputy National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, told Tinubu that Nigerians were enduring overwhelming suffering and “if their grievances remain unaddressed, there will be a revolt against your administration through the ballot box come 2027.
He warned that if the Federal Government continues to dismiss the alarming warnings concerning extreme poverty, pervasive hardships and escalating insecurity, the consequences would be dire.
Isiguzoro stated that the President must confront the harsh truths surrounding worsening insecurity, relentless hunger, and extreme poverty—issues that have now reached intolerable levels, adding that there is enough time to turn things around.
