- – Urges NYSC to stop posting corps members to terror infested states in the north west and north east
The Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has expressed concern that the Chief of Army Staff Lt.General Taoreed Lagbaja and the acting Inspector-General of Police Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, over relied on “empty media propaganda as a means of addressing the country’s security challenges, rather than taking effective, on-the-ground measures to combat terrorism”.
The National Coordinator of the HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, made this known in a statement made available to NIM on Sunday.
The Frontline Civil Society Organization called for accountability from the COAS regarding the dire situation of 7 remaining National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who were kidnapped by terrorists in Zamfara State and have been held captive for over a month in the forest, saying that the situation represented a significant failure in national security and humanitarian responsibility.
The statement questioned why the Army Chief was yet to take decisive action to rescue the kidnapped individuals, who are not only in grave danger but also symbolic of the broader security issues in Nigeria.
It highlighted the apparent disconnection between the Army Chief’s rhetoric and the reality on the ground, which the statement said underscores the shame of the COAS’s boasting and the incoherent messaging in light of such a critical and unresolved situation.
“HURIWA recalled that the COAS during a passing out parade of 85 Regular Recruit Intake at Depot Nigerian Army in Zaria is widely reported to have assured that in the coming days, the law abiding citizens would witness renewed stability and atmosphere of peace, to enable them go about their lawful businesses”.
The civil rights group called for the Army Chief to prioritize the safety and security of Nigerian citizens over public relations efforts and to take immediate actions to rescue the kidnapped corps members and address the larger security concerns in the country.
HURIWA stated thus: “it is a catastrophic shame that the entire service chiefs and primarily the man in charge of internal security in Nigeria-the acting IGP, are continuously ensconced and marooned in their heavily air-conditioned offices in the nation’s capital of Abuja and have completely abandoned Nigerians to their cruel fate and to live in Nigeria at the mercy of well armed non state actors including terrorists, kidnappers and daredevil Bank robbers whilst the Commander-in-Chief President Bola Ahmed Tinubu seems to have also failed to take steps to force his service chiefs to either work and enforce their mandates of defending National security interests or be dismissed from their financially juicy posts. Can we remind the President that his primary legal mandate is to protect lives and properties of the citizens and if these citizens are continuously killed then the President no longer has legitimacy to exercise authority as the President of Nigeria. Mr. President you must wake up from political hibernation and wage relentless war against terrorists.
“It is a shame of monumental proportions that Corpers numbering 8 were kidnapped by armed terrorists in Zamfara State and for a month, these Nigerians going for National service have been abandoned to their cruel experiences and ordeals in the hands of these mass killers and here are the service chiefs grandstanding and spreading tissues of empty media propaganda.
“It is a shame that everyone of us as citizens of Nigeria are not worried that seven families have their children they spent millions of Naira to train through schools and were deployed to serve their country but abducted hy terrorists but the Federal Republic of Nigeria continues in a business as usual fashion. We call on the management of the NYSC to embargo posting our children for youth service to terror infested states of Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states until such a time that these terrorists are captured, decapitated or incapacitated. We know that it is not in your place as NYSC management to provide security, but it is in your place not to send our children to places where they can meet their inevitable early deaths due to terrorism, since the armed forces are not doing well enough to safeguard Nigerians.”