Insecurity: Northern group calls for resignation, sack of security chiefs

Northern Advocacy for Peace, a Civil Society Organisation, has called for the immediate resignation or sack of Nigeria’s security chiefs.

The group said the recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train, Kaduna Airport as well as the wanton killings and destruction of property in many parts of the country have shown that the service chiefs are “incompetent and should leave or be made to leave”.

In a statement on Wednesday by the leader of the group, Khalifa Shuaibu, the group said the President must be decisive in his actions as terrorists are shutting down the country.

“NAP commiserates with families who lost loved ones in the attack. We wonder what has gone wrong with the intelligence in the country that bandits operated freely for over three hours, shooting and subjecting the passengers through horrible torture and kidnapping others without any resistance from the Nigerian security forces.

“Two days ago, bandits attacked the Kaduna International Airport and killed a security guard of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency. They prevented a Lagos-bound plane from embarking on the journey. Kaduna particularly has all security formations located in the state”

“It is clear that those in charge of the security agencies are incompetent and should leave or be made to leave. Nigerians are continually been vulnerable to terrorist attacks in their homes. With these attacks, Nigerians cannot even travel either by road, rail, or air at the moment. Severally, terrorists have killed kidnapped or burnt travellers in their cars. Terrorists are shutting down this country.

“It is disheartening that these enemies of the people are getting emboldened by the day. The bandits are becoming more daring and brazen. These blood-curdling enemies of the country have no regard for human life. They have no place in a civilized society and must be defeated.

“This attack and several others reported and not reported leave us with no option but to call for the immediate resignation of the Chief of Defense Staff, the Chief of Army Staff as well as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.

“In the event, the aforementioned security chiefs refuse to resign, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack them with immediate effect”.

He also called for complete disbandment and a thorough investigation of the heads of intelligence agencies in the country for lack of diligence in their duties.

Shuaibu said, “We are aware that, President Buhari has bought enough modern and sophisticated weapons and other military hardware which if properly deployed will boost the fight against terrorism. The lack of coordination by the CDS and the intelligence setup accounts for this failure, leading to the death of many Nigerians. These attacks are preventable.

“The military has not justified the billions of Naira put into the security sector through the welfare of personnel and military hardware. Let the current security chiefs resign or be sacked for the safety of Nigerians. This is the immediate response to the failure of the military in tackling the security challenges in the country”.