The Peoples Democratic Party and two other opposition parties have lamented the rising insecurity in the country which has caused the death of 12,250 citizens between January 2021 and March 2022.
According to a report compiled by research group, SBMorgen, and an advocacy network, Enough is Enough Nigeria, 6,102 civilians were killed within the period while 1,055 security personnel were killed.
Further breakdown showed that 571 of those killed were soldiers, 307 police officers, and 193 vigilante members.
Personnel of other security agencies like the Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Customs Service, and Federal Road Safety Corps were also killed during the period.
The report showed that not less than 1,500 citizens were killed in each quarter since January 2021, with the second quarter of last year recording the highest number of deaths at 3,133.
All of these happened under the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who was elected in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
Reacting, spokesperson of New Nigeria Peoples Party, Agbo Major, who spoke to The PUNCH, said, “This government has failed in its responsibility to provide security for the citizens. In one year, 12,250 citizens have been killed. Those were innocent Nigerians who paid their taxes and were entitled to maximum security. See the way Nigerians are being brought down ceaselessly without the government doing anything about it. It’s the failure of the government.
“Remember that this government came into power with the promise of providing security for Nigerians. I remember clearly that before 2015, there was this massive campaign that the then President Goodluck Jonathan wasn’t doing much, and the Peoples Democratic Party government had no answers to the country’s security challenges while they(APC) were going to come and ensure that Nigerians are safe. But the rate of killings we have seen under this government in the past seven years is not in the least comparable to what we saw under the PDP.”
On his part, National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party, Ambassador Rufus Aiyenigba, said, “The country is in a precarious situation. Nigerians are living in despair, total despondency and a state of hopelessness.
“The summary is that the security situation has gotten terrible under this government that came in with the promise of ending insecurity, corruption and truly making life better for the people. But the results and statistics that we see out there point to the contrary. I believe Nigerians have made up their minds. The voices of disaffection and discontent across the land point to the fact that the people have lost hope in this administration to really address the situation and get Nigerians out of the woods.”
On the coming 2023 general elections, Aiyenigba said the scorecard of the APC is there for all to see, and when the time comes, Nigerians will speak expressly and strongly with their permanent voter cards.
He added, “Nigeria is moving into a state of anarchy and a state of total disorder. The security situation of the country is at its lowest ebb. Never in the history of this country since the civil war have things gotten this bad.”
Criticising the directives usually issued by President Buhari after attacks on citizens, the SDP Spokesman said they had been of no effect.
“They have been of no effect since 2016 to date. Recall that the President confessed to the whole world that his directive to Benue State was not adhered to by the Nigeria Police Force under the former Inspector-General of Police. That’s an admission of failure of the administrative effort put in place by the government to curtail the horrendous crime against humanity being perpetrated. Nigeria is being turned into a killing field. It has become a mortuary. Anywhere you go, you see corpses everywhere, mass burials here and there. It’s a bad situation,” he said.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, described the report as disturbing.
Ologunagba stated, “It’s just a reflection of the incapacity and complete helplessness of the APC government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari. Recall that the APC government, while rolling out their propaganda and lies before the 2015 elections, came out with the idea of insecurity and the fact that they could protect this country. It is clear now, seven years after, that it was a complete fraud. They came in not to protect Nigerians.
“Every action of the APC since its inception has continued to generate insecurity. The behaviour and the utterances of the APC through President Buhari revealed that they were never interested in the interest of this country.
When contacted to speak on the reports, the spokesman of the APC, Felix Morka, stated that he was busy at the moment and promised to get back to our correspondent but he never did as of the time of filing this report.
Copyright PUNCH.
