Piqued by the continued and incessant killings of innocent souls in some part of the North by Boko Haram sect, a group under the aegis of Ijaw Media Forum has called the federal government to slam states like Borno, Bauch, Yobe states with a state of emergency.
In a statement signed and issued yesterday by the President of the Forum, Elder Asu Beks and its Secretary, Presidor Ghomorai respectively, they posited that the level of insecurity in most parts of the North is enough reason to declare such areas as unfriendly to the rest of the country.
The group further argued that the level of violence in Plateau State before a State of Emergency was declared by former President Olusegun Obasanjo was a far cry from what Boko Haram has unleashed in the North, wondering why the region should be acting as if they are not part of the country, but had continued to apply measures that looks as if they want the country to be divided.
The statement also wondered why some Northern leaders should be calling for the heads of Asari Dokubo and Kingsley Kuku for saying what is obvious, noting that people from the North had always threatened the peaceful co-existence of the country.
The statement which reads in part, ” A state of anarchy will not only affect one region but the entire country. The threat of violence by the North if President Jonathan wins the 2015 election will be met by counter threats as long as they continue to make these frivolous comments. The South South cannot and will not be intimidated. President Goodluck Jonathan will contest for the 2015 Presidential election and we shall solidly stand by him. No one except God can stop him.
“What offence have they committed? What have they said that has not been said before? Is it because they are from a minority tribe and so should only be seen and not heard? How many times have people threatened the peaceful coexistence and unity of Nigeria? Whose sole right is it to make inflammatory statements and be applauded”?
“We are all witnesses to statements by prominent Northerners who promised to make Nigeria ungovernable should Dr. Jonathan be elected President. Former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari and Lawal Kaita of the Northern Elders Political Forum, in 2010, threatened to make the country ungovernable if Dr. Goodluck wins the 2011 election. We are all witnesses to the security challenges facing the Nation since the President was sworn into office.
The group wondered why it has become an offense for President Jonathan to seek for a second term, pointing out that all the past leaders in the country since independence had always traditionally sought for a second term.
“tWhy is a second term Presidency for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan a taboo? Who is afraid of President Jonathan? Does the President not have the right to contest for a second term as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Every President that has ruled this country since independence has traditionally contested for a second term without hue and cry. Alhaji Shehu Shagari, despite his lack luster performance in office was re-elected, President Olusegun Obasanjo who came from Prison to become President went for a second term without any threat of disintegration of the country”.
“Let it be stated here that nobody or any one ethnic group has monopoly of violence. This is why we condemn the insurgency in the North as perpetrated by the terrorist group Boko Haram. The Northern elites have stampeded President Jonathan to consider amnesty for the Boko Haram sect. We are appalled at the suggestion that amnesty be given to terrorists who have killed and maimed hundreds of persons as well as destroy critical infrastructure in the North”, the statement added.
