Press Release
Former Bayelsa State Governor and chieftain of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, today slated Wednesday’s bloody attack on the convoy of General Muhammadu Buhari, former Head of State and National Leader of the APC. Sylva says the apparent assassination attempt on Buhari is a spineless assault on the voice of conscience in Nigeria by bigoted terrorists and their political sponsors seeking evil attention.
Sylva notes that Nigerians, by their traditions and religions, are a naturally peaceful people, saying those who promote or indulge in this campaign of death and destruction will have no place to hide from the wrath and curse of God and men. He notes the frustration of Nigerians with the federal government’s shoddy handling of the menace of insurgency and regretted that the terrorists appear to have been left to ride roughshod on the country and its citizens by a federal government that chooses extreme partisanship over proactive measures to secure life and property.
He says, “We are embarrassed by President Jonathan’s poor handling of the security problem and a situation where the government has allowed its sense of partisanship to overshadow the needed political, economic, and social will to tackle the insurgency.”
Sylva notes that in civilised societies opposition leaders as of right enjoy more protection from the government than even those in government, stressing, “Murder is the worst form of censorship and this government has become increasingly notorious for attempting to permanently silence voices of opposition.”
He sympathises with the families of all those that died and those that were injured in the twin bomb blasts targeted at Buhari and the prominent Islamic cleric, Sheik Dahiru Bauchi, two men who have been frankly critical of the Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism in all forms.
He calls on the federal government to take “more sincere steps to protect the lives and property of citizens, which is its primary responsibility.”
DOIFIE BUOKORIBO
Media Adviser to Chief Timipre Sylva
