Presidency now employer, defender of terrorists, bandits, says Fayose

• Urges Nigerians to restrict movement for safety
• YCE, analysts lament spate of insecurity in Oyo

Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has berated the Presidency, describing it as “the employer and defender of Boko Haram terrorists and armed bandits.”

The former governor, who also urged Nigerians to restrict their movement to avoid falling victims of terrorists, expressed concern that nowhere is safe in the country.

Fayose, in a statement yesterday by his Media Aide, Lere Olayinka, said that the issue of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, had further exposed the government’s hypocrisy and complicity.

He said: “It is painful that Nigeria is being governed by people who were at one time nominated as Boko Haram negotiators while their lieutenants are those who have openly kicked against military action against Boko Haram and rejected its categorisation as a terrorist organisation.

“Those ruling Nigeria, particularly at the federal level, are acting as if the country is about the government and them, forgetting that the government is about the country and its people.

“Our roads have been taken over by terrorists while Nigerians, including traditional rulers, are now being abducted right inside their bedrooms.”

In another development, the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and National Association of Public Affairs Analysts (NAPAA), yesterday, lamented the spate of insecurity in Oyo State, urging the state government and security agencies to tame the menace.

Secretary-General of NAPAA, Jare Ajayi, said the state was becoming something else, adding: “Who did we offend as a people? Can our atonement stem the rate at which Nigeria is fast descending into the Hades? I am ‘forced’ into this uncomfortable thought-line owing to the gruesome experiences we are going through.”

Also, Secretary-General of YCE, Dr. Kunle Olajide, said: “It is a sad and worrisome situation. There is hardly any Yoruba anywhere that does not have relations, family or friends in Ibadan and Oyo State. We can only appeal to the Oyo State Government to step up its activities and adequately fund and equip Amotekun operatives in the first instance and also put enough pressure on the federal security agencies to rise up to their responsibilities and ensure that peace is restored in Oyo State.”