The Director, Publicity and Advocacy of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF’s), Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has lamented the insecurity in the northwest region of Nigeria, describing it as becoming uncontrollable.
In a press statement signed and issued to newsmen in Gusau, the state capital, Baba-Ahmed said that in spite of the government’s efforts to curtail insecurity, the situation in the region is deteriorating, saying that the northern youths are not impressed with the authorities’ response.
“Our villages in the northwest zone are being emptied. Thousands of people, due to constant attacks, have relocated to the urban cities and the relations in big towns now cater for displaced villagers, deepening poverty, he said.
He insisted that Nigeria has become a safe haven for different terrorist groups, downplaying the description of criminal elements in the region as bandits.
“In actuality, northwestern of Nigeria has become the safe haven of increasingly active terrorist groups, including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS); Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM); Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb; and a splinter of Boko Haram popularly referred to as the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP),” he added.
