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  • ACF faults relocation of CBN, FAAN offices to Lagos

    ACF faults relocation of CBN, FAAN offices to Lagos

    • ‘It’s ploy to under-develop North’

    The mouthpiece of Northern Nigeria, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), yesterday rejected the planned relocation of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to Lagos.

    In a statement, titled: Planned Relocation of Key CBN Units, FAAN Headquarters to Lagos: Deliberate Ploy to Further Under-develop Northern Nigeria? by its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the ACF said: “The management of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently announced plans to relocate some of its key departments from Abuja to Lagos, understandably sparking a wave of anxiety and outcry from many Nigerians, especially Northerners who obviously would be most adversely affected by the spontaneous exercise.

    “The CBN’s decision is no means isolated or normal administrative action to fix some logistics problem. Rather, it fits into a disturbing pattern of antagonistic actions often taken by certain federal administrations against the interests of Northern and other parts of Nigeria.

    “The CBN’s announcement was followed by another from the Federal Ministry of Aviation’s Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) plans to also relocate to Lagos due to shortage of office space and claim of the volume of air traffic handled by Lagos.

    “The proposed actions of the two agencies, that is, the CBN and FAAN, are precipitous and mala fide.

    “Still on the Ministry of Aviation, only eight of 40 directors recently appointed are from the North! As if deliberately designed to be made public in drip-drip fashion, a leaked letter to the Minister of Aviation from a contractor, AVSATEL, became public, wherein the company sought permission to relocate the project for refurbishing Airport Recue and Fire Fighting Vehicles (ARFF) from Katsina to “the South” or Abuja, but sneakily mentioning Lagos, Ibadan, or Enugu.

    “AVSATEL sought to rationalise its suggestion on issues that must have baore such planned actions by the CBN and FAAN (and AVSATEL), but it is impossible to fail to see in them a clear pattern of thinly disguised marginalisation of the North; nor is the grand strategy entirely new.

    “(Former) President Olusegun Obasanjo’s first action in office in 1999 was to order the relocation of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) from Abuja, the federal capital, to Lagos.

    “Today, almost all agencies and institutions responsible for the marine economy and especially the sea ports, are concentrated at Lagos, which retains undisturbed monopoly over port operations and sea traffic in and out of Nigeria, even as Calabar, Uyo, and Port Harcourt offer as much if not better facilities. 

    “When, therefore, the public condemns such obsession with relocation to Lagos, it is clearly reacting against a disturbing pattern of swindle perpetrated by some Federal Government officials against sections of the country…”

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     “Northern Nigeria in particular has long lived under the shadow of these threats and has endured a series of calamities as a result. It was only the successful discovery and exploration of oil along the Kolmani River, in Gombe State, that discredited the propaganda that oil does not exist in the North. The vile propaganda was to discourage the investment of resources looking for oil up North.

    “Sadly, such has also been the case with a number of other federal projects meant to be located anywhere in the North, such as dredging of rivers Niger and Benue (so that the North remains landlocked), Mambila Hydroelectric Dam (Kainji and Shiroro are dams too many to be up North!), grazing reserves for the development of the livestock sub-sector, to list but a few.

    “For decades, certain powerful interests within the Federal Government, who seem scared of the North, have refused to allow the projects to be undertaken.

    “Given all of the above and more, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) remains unconvinced that the government agencies trying to relocate to Lagos will be doing so on any noble grounds.

    “ACF calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the National Assembly, to call on those agencies to retrace their steps and apply other honest means of addressing the alleged over-crowding in offices.

    “Against the situation in Lagos, there is plenty of land in the Federal Capital Territory for expansion of office and other infrastructural facilities and such factors should not be used to obfuscate sinister motives.

    “Katsina remains the location of the ARFF, as in the original scope of works. AVSATEL should not try to hoodwink the FGN with untenable drivels designed to shortchange the North.

    “ACF wishes to remind all concerned that decades ago, the seat of the capital of the Federal Republic was moved from Lagos to Abuja for reasons that remain valid, it is constitutional even more so today, constitutionally so, although, of course, a section of the country never liked the decision.”

  • ACF removes chairman Aduku, replaces with Osman

    ACF removes chairman Aduku, replaces with Osman

    Less than one year into his first term of four-years as the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF),  Gabriel Aduku was yesterday removed by the leadership of the forum and immediately replaced with Mamman Mike Osman (SAN).

    The new leadership of the ACF was announced to  reporters via a communiqué signed by the Forum’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur Mohammed-Baba.

    But no reason was given for Aduku’s  removal.

    Meanwhile, when asked for the reason behind Arc Aduku’s sudden removal as the ACF Chairman, the National Publicity Secretary said, “No ACF Chairman was “elected” as such. A set of persons were selected and presented but were never inaugurated.”

    Confirming the legitimacy of the new leadership as contained in the communiqué, Prof. Muhammad-Baba said: “The list was reviewed by ACF’s Leadership Selection Committee; it is the final list that was now presented, approved by the joint Assembly & inaugurated.

    “Whosoever that wasn’t inaugurated today simply didn’t make it in the final list as presented by the Leadership Selection Committee.

    “Foremost before the meeting the endorsement of new leadership for ACF, which was approved and inaugurated as follows: the Chairman, BOT, Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Dalhatu, Deputy Chairman, BOT, Senator Fred Orti, Vice Chairman, BOT, Amb. Ibrahim Mai Sule, Chairman, NEC, Mamman Mike Osman, Secretary General Alhaji Murtala Aliyu.

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    “The new Chairman, ACF’s NEC, Osman, in his acceptance speech paid tribute to the founding members of ACF. The new NEC, he pledged, will reinvigorate a new ACF that will be different in outlook and impact as it seeks to contribute to national discourse on issues relevant to the Nigeria Project.”

    However, Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) as well as Arewa Youth Vanguard said they had earlier uncovered alleged plans by Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello to cause cracks in the leadership of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) with the intention to cause the removal of the chairman of the Forum, Gabriel Aduku.

    The two independent bodies said in a separate press statements that Governor Bello did not take it lightly the visit of ACF chairman to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, shortly before the November 11, off-season election in Kogi State to request among others, the beefing up of security in the North and particularly, Kogi State, which was sliding into anarchy due to Insecurity.

    However, Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, ignored the messages sent to him.

  • ACF removes its chairman, Aduku, appoints Osman

    ACF removes its chairman, Aduku, appoints Osman

    Less than a year into his initial four-year term as the duly elected chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Arc. Gabriel Aduku was ousted on Tuesday, December 12, by the forum’s leadership. 

    He was promptly replaced by Mamman Mike Osman (SAN).

    The new leadership of the ACF was announced to the press via a communique signed by the Forum’s national publicity secretary, Prof. Tukur Mohammed-Baba, but no reason was given for the removal of Aduku.

    Meanwhile, when asked for the reason behind Arc Aduku’s sudden removal as the ACF chairman, the national publicity secretary said: “No ACF chairman was “elected” as such. A set of persons were selected and presented but were never inaugurated.”

    Confirming the legitimacy of the new leadership as contained in the communique, Prof. Muhammad-Baba said: “The list was reviewed by ACF’s Leadership Selection Committee; it is the final list that was now presented, approved by the joint Assembly & inaugurated. 

    “Whosoever that wasn’t inaugurated today simply didn’t make it in the final list as presented by the Leadership Selection Committee. 

    The communique read: “A joint meeting of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) met at Kaduna on Tuesday, 12th December, 2023, to discuss matters of interest to the organisation.

    “Foremost before the meeting the endorsement of new leadership for ACF, which was approved and inaugurated as follows: the Chairman, BOT, Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Dalhatu, Deputy Chairman, BOT, Senator Fred Orti, Vice Chairman, BOT, Amb. Ibrahim Mai Sule, Chairman, NEC, Mamman Mike Osman, Secretary General Alhaji Murtala Aliyu.

    “The new Chairman, ACF’s NEC, Mr. Mamman M.Osuman, in his acceptance speech paid tribute to the founding members of ACF. The new NEC, he pledged, will reinvigorate a new ACF that will be different in outlook and impact as it seeks to contribute to national discourse on issues relevant to the Nigeria Project.

    “The meeting also received a goodwill message from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. George Akume who also urged the ACF to provide the needed leadership for ushering a new Northern Nigeria in its bid to overcome the multi-faceted social and economic problems, as well as for unity.”

    However, Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) and the Arewa Youth Vanguard said they had earlier uncovered alleged plans by Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello to cause cracks in the leadership of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) with the intention to remove the chairman of the Forum, Gabriel Aduku.  

    The two independent bodies said in a separate press statements that Governor Bello did not take it lightly the visit of ACF chairman to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, shortly before the November 11, 2023 off-season election in Kogi state to request among others, the beefing up of security in the north and particularly, Kogi state, which was sliding into anarchy due to insecurity.

    However, when WhatsApp and SMS messages were sent to the Commissioner for Information & Communications, Kogi State, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo, he ignored the messages after he directed that, “Kindly resend the message on WhatsApp”, which was done  as requested.

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    Fanwo also did not pick his call when a telephone call was put across to him. 

    “The Kogi East Elders Council’s statement was signed by its Secretary, Mr. Alphonsus Alhassan and made available to newsmen in Kaduna. In a similar vein, the Arewa Youth Vanguard through its leader, Alhaji Abdulsamad Babayo advised the leadership of ACF not to play into the hands of governor Bello, saying the Forum will be sounding its own death knell if it plays into the hands of “unscrupulous” politicians.

    According to the statement, “The attention of the Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) has been drawn to the clandestine moves orchestrated by Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the out-going Governor of Kogi State, to mortally injure the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) through the unwarranted attempt to cause the premature and ill-advised removal of, its Chairman, Chief (Arc) Gabriel Yakubu Aduku who assumed the office of the august organization only recently. 

    “The Governor’s grouse with Chief Gabriel Aduku (who also doubles as the Acting Chairman, Kogi East Elders’ Council, (KEEC) was his visit to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, shortly before the November 11, 2023 off-season election in Kogi State to request among others, the beefing up of security in the North and particularly, Kogi State, which was sliding into state-tolerated anarchy.

    “During the visit, Chief Aduku also expressed grave concern about the security situation in Zamfara State and other parts of Northern Nigeria . His visit therefore, could not be termed as partisan by any fair-minded watcher of recent events in Nigeria.

    “As Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, the entire 19 northern states fall under the purview of the ACF helmsman’s scrutiny and and it is part of his patriotic duty to consult individuals or groups anywhere in Nigeria to reposition the interest of the constituent parts of Arewa. Or, are we to assume that Kogi State is not covered by the sphere of ACF’s operations?

    “If anything credit must infact, be given to the Aduku-led ACF for the relative security success enjoyed in Kogi State during the November 11, 2023 election. Were it not for that statesmanly and timely visit and the subsequent intervention of the military, only God knows how many persons would have been killed and maimed in Kogi State by thugs sponsored and unleashed on opponents and citizens by Yahaya Bello and his goons.

    “In previous elections under this Governor, Police helicopters were deployed to unleash terror on voters at polling units by openly shooting at the electorate thereby scaring them away from exercising their franchise. In addition, fake security personnel were all over the place, killing innocent voters, while ballot box snatching was the order of the day then.

    “We also witnessed how vehicles carrying collated results were burnt down by agents of Governor Yahaya Bello.”

  • ACF rejects DHQ’s response,demands redeployment of GOC

    ACF rejects DHQ’s response,demands redeployment of GOC

    The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has rejected the response of the Defence Headquarters on the bombing of civilians.

    It called for the redeployment of the General Officer Commanding, One Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, “to allow for unfettered investigations”.

    ACF, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, said the N10 million donation announced by the Chief of Army Staff was “grossly inadequate”.

    It said it was the Federal Government, not the Nigerian Army, which should take responsibility for full compensation for deaths and injuries to victims arising from the incident. 

    ACF urged the COAS, as a sign of good faith, to follow up with additional steps to ameliorate the pains and suffering of the community. 

    It faulted the statement issued by the Defence Headquarters, saying it left much to be desired in its choice of words and was even contemptuous.

    “Indeed, ACF considers the Defence Headquarters’ response as prove positive that the disaster was a consequence of an inexcusable and incompetent failure of intelligence. 

    “ACF draws particular attention to four specific issues in the Defence Headquarters’ reaction, as follows: (i) that the military could deploy an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) without proper ground assessment was a strategic error because it resulted in deaths and injuries to mostly children who were not even as little as carrying sticks and stones;

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    “(ii) the Defence Headquarters claimed a ‘threat’ was ‘eliminated’ but such threat was tragically a gathering of mostly children as obvious from video clips and photographs now trending on social media, of the before-and-after the Tudun Biri Massacre; 

    “(iii) the Defence Headquarters asserted that the community ought to have informed the military about its activities, an assertion tantamount to a classic blame-the-victim strategy and typical gaslighting of the victims of the incident.

    “On the contrary, the usual practice is for communities to be informed about impending military operations.; and (iv) while it is entirely plausible that terrorists often disguise as civilians and entrench themselves in the civilian population, the Tudun Biri gathering was clearly that of innocent civilian citizens, and as obvious from photos of the before-and-after the incident.” 

    Also yesterday, former Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who currently chairs the Senate Committee on Defence, said the committee will begin an investigation into the incident.

     He mourned the loss of innocent lives and sent condolences to the Kaduna State Government and the victims of the bombing.

    He urged the Federal Government, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to provide succor to those injured and incapacitated by the tragic incident.

  • ACF: Nigeria has lost a nationalist 

    ACF: Nigeria has lost a nationalist 

    Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has said Ohinoyi’s death was ‘a great loss of a nationalist and a pillar of support to Arewa matters’.

    A statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, reads: “The deceased was a nationalist, astute businessman of international repute in his own right, and an uncompromising pillar of support for Arewa matters. For these, the late Ohinoyi will be sorely missed. ACF has been hit lately with so many deaths, particularly of key elders of Arewa. ACF is however consoled that each lived lives worthy of emulation and left a legacy of exemplary behaviour and stellar achievements.

    “ACF prays Allah grants forgiveness and eternal rest in al-Jannah Firdaus to the late monarch.”

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    Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, said his colleagues mourn the late monarch, ‘a man of peace, and an exemplary leader whose reign was characterised by dedication and commitment to unity, harmony and understanding among the people’. 

    “Dr. Ibrahim’s reign witnessed tremendous progress in his domain, leaving an indelible mark on the traditional and cultural heritage of the Ebira people. He was a cerebral leader of uncommon wisdom, humility and integrity. 

    “His legacy of peace, honour, unity, and the preservation of cultural heritage will continue to inspire and guide the Ebira race, the Northern region and Nigeria as a whole for generations to come.”

  • ACF urges caution

    ACF urges caution

    • Raises concern over violence in Kogi

    Ahead of the November 1  governorship election in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa states, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has warned key actors in the contests to avoid violence that can further heat up the polity.

    The group said anyone, irrespective of his or her status, found guilty of instigating violence in any of the states must be made to face the full wrath of the law, chairman of the ACF, Mr. Gabriel Aduku, has said.

    Aduku, an architect, who noted that peace, is panacea for the country’s development said, necessary sanctions were necessary to guarantee a peaceful, free and fair election, as well as restore confidence in the nation’s democracy.  

    He said that the spate of violence in Kogi State was worrisome, urging the authourities to nip the menace in the bud before it escalates.

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    In a statement made available to journalists in Kaduna yesterday, the ACF chairman said, “All those who threaten public peace, no matter how highly placed, must be sanctioned to guarantee a peaceful, free, fair and credible election and restore public confidence in our democracy.

    “The situation in Kogi State is particularly worrisome especially in the run-off to the off-season governorship election on November 11, 2023. The onset of campaigns for the election has been marked by one form of state-tolerated violence or the other, thereby threatening the peace and security of the State.

    “In recent times, there have been reported cases of intimidation of candidates of other political parties by the ruling APC government in Kogi State.

    “This is ostensibly with a view of shutting out candidates with credible pedigrees from actualizing their aspirations.

    “This practice must be curtailed in view of the plural nature of our democratic system”, he said.  

  • Arewa to govt: end killings

    The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) rose yesterday from its National Executive Council meeting with a call on the Federal Government to take the battle to the criminals responsible for killings across the country.

    It also urged the government to take measures that will restore peace in the states.

    The ACF was unsparing of governors of the North, who it accused of not addressing the issue of out-of-school children.

    According to the ACF, the lack of attention to such children, has pushed up to over 10 million the number of Almajiri children roaming the streets.

    The NEC meeting, presided over by the ACF Vice Chairman, Senator Abubakar Girei, who stood in for the Chairman, Alhaji Musa Liman Kwande, described the governors’ attitude towards the development of education is unfortunate.

    A communique issued by the ACF National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, said the quarterly meeting discussed exhaustively security challenges, especially the runaway banditry involving kidnapping and killings of innocent people on the highways as well as frequent attacks on communities giving rise to growing death toll in  Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna and Taraba states.

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    The Forum, while noting that, the underlying causes of insecurity differ from one geopolitical zone to another, empahised the need for the government to consciously develop appropriate measures to contain the situation.

    The communiqué reads: “The Council noted the effort of the security agencies and urged them to do more and take the war to the criminals that have continued to make life unbearable to our people.

    “The Council calls upon Federal Government to take drastic measures that will restore normalcy, peace and harmony in the affected states in order to assuage the fears of the people, in particular Zamfara State, where the bandits’ activities have been most cruel and devastating to the socioeconomic and political life of the people.

    “The Council also notes with concern the most recent communal clashes between the Tiv and Jukun communities in Benue and Taraba states respectively with attendant loss of lives and destruction of properties on both sides.

    “The Council condemns this unnecessary enmity between communities that have peacefully co-existed over the years and called on the states affected to put in a peacebuilding mechanism that will ensure harmony among the various groups.

    “The Council notes with concern the recent communal clash between Mada ethnic group and Fulani settlement in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State and condemns such heinous crimes. It calls on the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

    “Council also appeals to the communities to avoid using reprisal attacks as a way of addressing concerns, since such reprisals make victims of those who know nothing about the feuds. It, therefore, appeals for due process in addressing such grievances among the various communities.”

    On out-of-school children, the ACF said: “On the issue of more than 10 million children that are out of school in the North, the Council noted with concern the increase in the number of Almajiris and children roaming the streets and the unfortunate attitude of our states governors towards the development of education.

    “Recently the Emirs and chiefs in the North organised a conference on this burning issue and issued a communique on how the Northern states should tackle the situation. Unfortunately, very few states attended the conference or even sent representatives.

    “Furthermore, the Minister of Education recently lamented the attitude of state governments to accessing funds at the Universal Basic Education Commission for primary education development by paying their counterpart funding.

    “This is an unfortunate development, Council therefore appealed to the Northern state governments to seriously address this out-of-school children menace to avoid further escalation of insecurity and other vices that have bedeviled the North. Illiteracy, poverty and drug abuse are a result of poor education and nonchalant attitude of our leaders to good governance.”

  • ACF to FG: take fight to criminals, ends killings

    Mouthpiece of Northern Nigeria, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has risen from its National Executive Council meeting, asking the Federal Government to take fight to the criminals responsible for killings across the country and take measures that will restore peace in the security threatened states across Nigeria.

    This is also as it lambasted Governors of the Northern states, for lack of commitment towards addressing out of school children, which it said, has given rise to number of Almajiri children roaming the streets in the region to over 10 million.

    The meeting presided over by the ACF Vice Chairman, Sen. Abubakar Girei, on behalf of Chairman, Alhaji Musa Liman Kwande, lamented that; attitude of Northern states governors towards the development of education is unfortunate.

    A communique issued at the end of the Wednesday meeting by its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, said the quarterly meeting discussed exhaustively security challenges especially the runaway banditry involving kidnappings and killings of innocent people on the highways and frequent attacks on communities giving rise to growing death toll in States of Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna and Taraba.

    ACF while noting that, the underlying causes of insecurities differ from one geopolitical zone to another, empahised the need for government to consciously develop appropriate measures to contain the situation.

    According to the communique, “The Council noted the effort of the security agencies and urged them to do more and take the war to the criminals that have continued to make life unbearable to our people.

    “The Council calls upon Federal Government to take drastic measures that will restore normalcy, peace and harmony in the affected States in order to assuage the fears of the people in particular Zamfara state where the bandit’s activities have been most cruel and devastating to the socioeconomic and political life of the people.

    “The Council also notes with concern the most recent communal clashes between the Tiv and Jukun communities in Benue and Taraba states respectively with attendant loss of lives and destruction of properties on both sides.

    Read also: Nigeria at war with itself, says ACF scribe

    “The Council condemned this unnecessary enmity between communities that have peacefully co-existed over the years and called on the States affected to put in a peacebuilding mechanism that will ensure harmony among the various groups.

    “The Council notes with concern the recent communal clash between Mada ethnic group and Fulani settlement in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State and condemns such heinous crimes. It calls on the Security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

    “Council also appeal to the communities to avoid using reprisal attacks as a way of addressing concerns, since such reprisals make victims of those who know nothing about the feuds. It therefore, appeals for due process in addressing such grievances among the various communities.” It said.

    On out of school children, ACF said, “On the issue of more than 10 million children that are out of school in the North, the Council noted with concern the increase in the number of Almajiris and children roaming the streets and the unfortunate attitude of our states governors towards the development of education.

    “Recently the Emirs and Chiefs in the North organized a conference on this burning issue where it discussed and issued a communique on how the Northern States should tackle the situation. Unfortunately, very few states attended the conference or even send representatives.

    “Furthermore, the Minister of Education recently lamented the attitude of States government to access funds at the Universal Basic Education Commission for primary education development by paying their counterpart funding.

    “This is an unfortunate development, Council therefore appealed to the Northern States government to seriously address this out-of-school children menace to avoid further escalation of insecurity and other vices that have bedeviled the North. Illiteracy, poverty and drug abuses are a result of poor education and nonchalant attitude of our leaders to good governance,” said ACF.

     

     

  • Nigeria at war with itself, says ACF scribe

    Secretary-General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr. Anthony Sani has reacted to the spate of killings and kidnapping across the country, saying that Nigeria is at war with itself.

    He described the various security challenges bedeviling the country as being stoked by poverty and unemployment, pointing out overcoming them would require that, the government confront the underlying causes.

    Sani who spoke in an exclusive interview with The Nation in Kaduna on Wednesday, said government at all levels should come to terms with the reality that the nation is at war with itself and confront the war with all available means at their disposal.

    He, however, warned against giving ethnic and religious coloration to the security threats, arguing such will provide platforms to criminals to commit more crimes, knowing fully well the authority cannot prosecute religion and ethnic nationality.

    He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for working round the clock to ensure the Killings are brought to an end within a shortest possible time.

    The ACF Secretary-General said: “There are many factors that may account for the killings across the country and they differ from geopolitical zone to zone.

    “For examples, those due to clashes between farmers and herders which may have to do with paucity of grazing and farming lands as a result of increase in population and desert encroachment may not be the same with those caused by bandits.

    “Still, those by kidnappings are different from those caused by cattle rustling and armed robbery or cultism.

    “However, to overcome these security challenges would require the government to identify and confront the underlying causes.

    “And for me, I think the insecurity is stoked by poverty which comes with unemployment across the land.

    “There seems to be a vicious circle now that farmers cannot farm due to banditry which brings about more hunger and unemployment that result in poverty and, thus, create more insecurity.

    “Government and our leaders at all levels should come to terms with the reality that the nation is at war with itself and should confront the war with unity of purpose and with all available means at their disposal.

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    “These would require more trained security personnel with adequate equipment needed to confront and overwhelm the criminals.

    “And as they do so, consciously directed efforts must be applied in identifying and overwhelming the underlying causes of the insecurity.”

    He added: “To give ethnic and religious coloration to these challenges is unhelpful because such attitudes unwittingly provide platforms to criminals to stand and commit more crimes because they know the authority cannot prosecute religion and ethnic nationality.”

    Reacting calls from some quarters for sack of security chiefs, Anthony Sani said: “I think the President has what it takes to know challenges which the service chiefs face by way of needed trained personnel and the arms.

    “He is expected to know the performing service chiefs and those who are not performing, as well as to why those who do not perform fail to perform.

    “He is there better placed to make such decisions. This is because he is not only the Commander- in- Chief but also a security expert in his own right.

    “Mr. President has noted the unsavory security challenges and the cries across the country.

    “As a result, he is doing all within his ability and capacity to bring the killings to an end in the shortest possible time.”

  • Kidnapping, killings in North worrisome – ACF

    Mouthpiece of Northern Nigeria, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has lamented increasing spate of kidnapping and killings in the country, particularly in the north.

    ACF therefore called for serious deployment of troops to the affected states and highways to repel attacks and bring perpetrators to book.

    The northern socio-cultural group also asked the federal government to re-examine its security apparatus.

    It urged the government to take adequate measures that will increase the number of police personnel, train them and provide equipment and other logistic support to effectively tackle the menace.

    According to a statement by the forum’s National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, the security agencies need to also employ new strategies and intelligence gathering to effectively smoke-out the kidnappers and bandits from their enclaves and hideouts.

    The body said: “Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and in deed Nigerians are worried and disturbed with reports of spate of kidnappings of innocent people on the highways and frequent attacks on villages by some armed bandits which has led to the death of hundreds of innocent lives particularly in the Northern part of the country.

    ”The recent frequent kidnappings and attacks on the people, especially along Kaduna/Abuja express highway and many villages in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Kaduna states as well as many parts of the country is cruel, barbaric and inhuman.

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    ”ACF, therefore, condemns these unwarranted and unbridled kidnappings and killings of people by some unknown gunmen.

    ”This is a serious challenge to the place of government, our military and other security agencies as the spate of attacks is getting vicious and unacceptable.

    ”The establishment of Military Joint Task Force and other security operational command bases in Zamfara, Sokoto and other flash point states to combat the bandits activities in the region need to redouble their efforts in order to put an end to this daily loss of innocent lives and destruction of property.

    ”ACF also calls upon the security agencies to employ new strategies and intelligence gathering needed to effectively smoke-out the kidnappers and bandits from their enclaves and hideouts.

    ”The Police Force should deploy more troops to the affected states and highways to not only repel attacks but go after the perpetrators and bring them to book.

    ”ACF appeals to the federal government to seriously reexamine its security apparatus and take adequate measures that will increase the number of police personnel, train them and provide equipment and other logistic support to effectively tackle this menace.

    ”ACF equally urges the communities to cooperate with the security agencies by way of intelligence gathering and sharing.

    ”ACF extends its condolences to the families of the innocent souls killed in the dastardly acts of the kidnappers and bandits, the people and governments of the affected states.”