Insecurity: Groups Applaud President Tinubu’s Effort in Military Operations in Northern Nigeria

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Northern Elders Progressive Forum and Northern Professionals have expressed delight with the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the current military operations, especially military air strikes in major hideout of terrorists in some parts of the North-west geo-political zone.

The northern elders and professionals particularly noted that the air strikes and ground operations in Sokoto, Zamfara and some parts of Kaduna and Niger States have yielded much successes which have tremendously forced the majority of the bandits to leave their enclaves looking for shelter.

These commendations were contained in a communique issued at the end of a crucial meeting held in Kaduna on January 21, which was signed by Dr. Usman Sani and Yusuf Abubakar, chairman and secretary of the group respectively, in which they appealed to the northern political elites, religious and traditional leaders to create an environment of political understanding, unity, and mutual respect for one another.

The group pointedly urged the political elites not to allow political differences to destroy their common interest, unity, and survival of the region.

While commending the efforts of the new leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under the leadership of Mr. Ola Olukoyede in the fight against corruption, the communique expressed dismay at the recent publication by the Punch Newspaper titled: ‘EFCC revives 13 ex-govs N772 bn fraud cases’, in which it hurriedly published names of certain political leaders, and individuals with alleged accusations of amassing public wealth illegally without recourse to the due process and rule of law.

The communique further stated that: “The hurried publication has now become a big embarrassment to them, their families, political associates, and our dear country in the quest for objectivity, a presumption of innocent, emotional, and moral psyches.

“We think that certain groups of political class, because of vendetta or other reasons, are cheaply using some media platforms to drag the anti-graft agency image into disrepute to achieve cheap and unpopular political scores.”

The northern elders advised the EFCC not to allow itself to become a tool of political vendetta, blackmail, or intimidation against any individual through personal grudges, persecution, and campaign of calumny to tarnish the image of certain personalities or any perceived political enemies of the characters “hiding behind their executive power to unleash allegations through media for public consumption and sympathy.”

They alleged that “there are some groups of persons who are sponsoring such sinister motives against some of the political leaders mentioned in the Punch story in order to tarnish the reputation of Senators Adamu Abdullahi, Danjuma Goje, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, Sule Lamido, among others.”