The elders said unless such a step was taken by the president and urgently too, the nation’s worsening security challenges might not abate soon.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been berated by Elders from Northern Nigeria over his refusal to sack underperforming service chiefs.
According to DailyPost, the elders, operating under the aegis of the Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development, CNEEPP, reiterated their call for the restructuring of the nation’s entire security architecture.
CNEEPP said unless such a step was taken by the president and urgently too, the nation’s worsening security challenges might not abate soon.
CNEEPP accused Monguno of feeding Buhari with lies and wrong advice regarding the worsening security challenges, adding that the Service Chiefs had become bereft of fresh ideas to tackle the problems.
A statement by the body’s National Coordinator, Zana Goni, said: “Insecurity in Nigeria has become a source of concern both to Nigerians and the international community.”
The group lamented that “churches, mosques, residential buildings, schools and farmlands are not safe as terrorists regularly invade them.”
The Northern elders lamented Buhari’s refusal to harken to calls for the overhauling of the country’s security architecture.
“Some Nigerians in the North are fleeing to neighbouring countries to seek refuge. Soldiers who are supposed to be at the war front are resigning over a lack of motivation from the service chiefs. In addition, there is a limited supply of weapons and ammunition. At the last count, over 5000 lives have been lost in the last five years and the number keeps increasing by the day with no solution in sight.
“In the wake of these atrocities, Nigerians of all walks of life have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the National Security Adviser, NSA, and the Service Chiefs for non-performance.
“Surprisingly, President Buhari is yet to take action on useful advice by well-meaning Nigerians and instead, engaging in endless meaningless meetings with the security chiefs in Aso Rock, we can’t continue like this as if the collapse of the country does not mean anything to us”, the statement read.
The group insisted that insecurity in the country had reached a boiling point and that only the sack of the NSA and the service chiefs will address the ugly development.
“We are worried about President Muhammadu Buhari’s silence despite calls by every sector of Nigeria including the National Assembly who are the representatives of the people.
”Some international organizations and authorities have faulted our security architecture and called for the need to restructure same, yet Mr President is still not moved ?”
“In a constitutional democracy, the people are the employers of the president and for a president to write his name in gold, he must listen to the people.
”Most Nigerians don’t sleep with their eyes closed anymore. Our roads and homes are no longer safe because of robbery, kidnapping, banditry and Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists.
“We wish to let our president know that Nigerians are really tired of excuses from the NSA and service chiefs. Their continuous retention is not doing the country any good”’, the elders maintained