• Sultan urges co-operation over planned amnesty

• CD, Falana, PDP chief deplore insecurity

ECHOING wrongheadedness, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to shelve the plan, if he has any, to impose a state of emergency on some of the northern states worst hit by the Boko Haram crisis.

It added that any such move can only be aimed at giving an undue advantage to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) instead of helping to end the crisis.

Meanwhile, a Lagos based lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Felix Fagbohungbe has kicked against calls in some quarters for the state of emergency in some northern parts of country.

Similarly, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has urged members of the Boko Haram sect and other Nigerians to co-operate with the committee set up to dialogue with the group’s leaders to end insurgency in the North.

In a related development, the Campaign for Democracy (CD) has condemned the escalation of wanton killings going on in the country which has lately assumed a dangerous dimension with the death of scores of policemen in the last one week in Borno and Nassarawa states. Also, a civil rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN) has blamed the Federal Government for recent killings of policemen and other law enforcement agents in the country in the northern part of the country.

In the same vein, a chieftain of the PDP, Owolabi Salis has lamented the upsurge in insecurity in the country, regretting that the Boko Haram insurgency had become a monster to the country.

And barely a week after the military, police and prisons formations at Bama, Borno State, were attacked by Boko Haram gunmen, the police barracks in the outskirts of the town was in the early hours of yesterday attacked by some terror suspects with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

In a statement issued in Lagos Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said if the imposition of emergency rule on the most affected states is the only viable option left for Jonathan to tackle the crisis, then he should step down.

It said the crisis had dragged on for so long because of the failure of the President Jonathan administration to appropriately diagnose the problem in the first instance, coupled with an exhibition of lethargy and an appalling lack of creativity in devising measures to end it.

‘’Imposing a state of emergency on the states that have been mentioned, like Borno, Yobe and Nasarawa states will amount to shifting responsibility and unduly victimising the governors of those

states, who have done perhaps more than the President, in dealing with the crisis, even though they are not in charge of any security apparatus.

‘’It is also important to warn that since the listed states are not under the control of the PDP and – going by precedence – President

Jonathan is sure to appoint card-carrying PDP members to preside over the affairs of the state in the event that he imposes emergency rule on them, it will amount to robbing the citizens of those states of their mandate and capturing more states for the PDP.

The party said if the President still finds the state of emergency option the most viable despite the arguments to the contrary, then he should go further by also putting Abuja, where the police headquarters, a military barracks and the UN complex have been bombed; the states in the South where kidnapping has become a daily occurrence as well as the areas where the nation’s crude oil are being stolen in millions of barrels under the state of emergency.

Rather than declare a state of emergency in the affected states of Borno, Yobe, Kano, Kebbi and Nasarawa, the renowned lawyer called on all stakeholders to shun personal interests and unite to address the issue.

Fagbohungbe, who spoke to The Guardian on the increasing security challenges, said declaring state of emergency in the affected states would not solve the problem.

In a statement signed by the JNI’s Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, the Sultan also condemned the recent killings in some parts of the country where security men were ambushed and killed by members of Ombatse cut.

While Sultan Abubakar called on all Nigerians “to be wary of happenings around them and take proactive measures by reporting to appropriate authorities doubtful persons and events, he stressed yesterday, that “all citizens should give their unflinching support to the constituted Federal Government Amnesty Committee, whose mandate is not only recommending amnesty but dialoguing with insurgents towards opening doors for the restoration of peace and stability in the North and Nigeria at large”.

CD in a statement signed by its President, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, said: “The incessant killings of civilians which have been on for several months now was troubling enough but the slaughtering of policemen makes the situation more troubling as it gives a sense of total hopelessness to the chaos that is going on in the country.”

The pro-democracy group noted that the vulnerability of security forces to the seeming superior power of terrorists removes whatever confidence the civilian population has in the state to guarantee security of lives and property and by extension a clear demonstration of the failure of state.

Falana particularly held the government culpable for what he described as the abysmal neglect of security forces especially the Police.

A female resident in the barracks who leaded anonymity, in a telephone chat with The Guardian said: “The gunmen came on motorcycles and tricycles at about

3 a.m. and started chanting God is great, before detonating the bombs that triggered the torching of houses.

“Five minutes later, I heard three blasts at the east flank of the barracks, before soldiers rushed to the scene at dawn and repelled the bandits who later fled towards Mubi road and College of Education, Bama.’’

She, however, said that no one was killed or injured as occupants of torched houses escaped early enough.

Also, spokesman of State Police Command, Gideon Jibrin, confirmed the incident, but added that no arrest was made.
Source:http://infonigeria24.com/acn-others-caution-against-emergency-rule-in-the-north/