Northern Elders Forum (NEF’s) Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed on Wednesday lamented the insecurity being experienced in the northwest region of Nigeria.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that inspite of government efforts, the security situation in Nigeria is deteriorating. Baba-Ahmed, who is not impressed with authorities’ response insinuated that they do not care.
“Our villages in the North West are being emptied.Those who have options to move do so in thousands.Others who have nowhere to go stay put and wait for the next attack.Relations in big towns now cater for displaced villagers, deepening poverty. No IDP camps.Does anyone care?” Baba-Ahmed wrote on his known Twitter handle.
The rising insecurity in the northwest—vicious attacks on local communities and kidnapping of people by criminal groups in the region—is being described by state officials as banditry. However, further evidence suggests that the government is simplifying the dynamics.
In actuality, northwestern 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 Province (ISWAP).
Perhaps, the Yoruba irredentist would tarry awhile and evaluate the scenario that has continually plagued the Nigerian political space and indeed all over Africa and come to the reality of how safest the SW is comparatively. I am not giving credence to insecurity and the wanton waste of lives prevalent in the Nigerian lands, just averring the fact that it is neither exclusive nor restricted to any section of the country.
INSECURITY AND BANDITRY HAS BECOME A GLOBAL AFRICAN MENACE. A FESTRING CANCER.