THE Federal Government may soon commence
a clampdown on “extremist groups”, especially the Oodua People’s
Congress and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State
of Biafra.
President Goodluck Jonathan has said the
OPC, MASSOB and the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, constitute
threats to national security.
“The Nigerian state faces three
fundamental security challenges posed by extremist groups like Boko
Haram in the North; the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign
State of Biafra in the South-East; and the Oodua People’s Congress in
the South-West.
“The activities of the Movement for the
Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and OPC, though not as
violently intense as those of Boko Haram, they still pose a serious
security challenge to the Nigerian state,” Jonathan said in his 234-page
mid-term report presented to Nigerians as part of the activities
marking the nation’s Democracy Day, a copy of which was obtained by our
correspondent on Thursday.
But both factional leaders of the OPC,
Dr. Fredrick Fasheun and Chief Gani Adams, on Thursday denied the
allegation that their group constitute security challenges to the
country. They spoke separately to one of our correspondents on the
telephone.
While Fasheun described the allegation
as unfair, Adams said such assessment did not take into consideration
the activities of the group in the last eight years.
“OPC does not constitute any security
threat to any people let alone Nigeria. So, anybody that ties the rope
of insecurity around our waist is being unfair to us. We love Nigeria
but we love social justice more,” Fasheun said.
Adams added that rather than
constituting a security threat to the country, OPC had for the past
eight years, helped to promote peace in the South-West Zone of the
country and by its festivals, helped to develop Nigeria tourism.
The MASSOB also denied that its members constituted threat to national security.
Its Director of Information, Mr. Uchenna
Madu, told our correspondent on telephone that the President could not
have said MASSOB had been a threat to national security.
He said this was because MASSOB
supported and voted for Jonathan in the last election because of the
role he played in the burial of the late Biafran leader, Chief Emeka
Ojukwu.
Madu said, “MASSOB is not a threat to
Nigeria’s security. We have been conducting ourselves in a non-violent
manner in line with the Constitution of Nigeria.
“If they are looking for those that are
threatening national security, they should go after Boko Haram. They
should go after government officials who through corruption have become
the greatest threat to national security,” he said.
Already, sources learnt that
the Federal Government had put both OPC and MASSOB under security watch
while a full-blown military offensive against Boko Haram is ongoing
under the emergency rule declared in the three northern states of Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe.
Curiously, Adams was among the
dignitaries at the event where Jonathan presented the document on
Wednesday in Abuja. Some former Heads of State, including ex-President
Olusegun Obasanjo, had shunned the event.
The President stated in the document
that the Nigeria Police Force was upgrading its intelligence and
counter-violence infrastructure across the country to respond
appropriately to the threats being posed by the groups.
He said, “… the greater challenges are
in the North where Boko Haram continues its intense violent campaign
against citizens that have led to loss of lives and the destruction of
poverty in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Kano, Bauchi and Gombe states.
“While attacks have been launched on
government and international institutions like the Nigeria Police Force
Headquarters and the United Nations House in the Federal Capital
Territory, government has contained the violent activities of the Boko
Haram sect by restricting it to communities in the North-East where the
Joint Task Force, of our national security agency, is currently engaged
in anti-terrorism battle.
“The challenge of containing a group
with no identifiable structure is huge: but within our broad
counter-terrorism coordinated framework, government has scored several
successes with the arrests and trials of many insurgents.”
Jonathan said whenever any group
organised itself against the prevailing laws and established democratic
institution, government would stand up and effectively remove such
threat to ensure that the protection of lives and property was not
compromised.
Meanwhile, the President again met with security chiefs behind closed doors on Thursday.
Presidency and security sources said the
meeting was to appraise the state of the nation’s security vis-a-vis
the military operations in the North-East states under emergency rule.
The meeting which held at the Villa had
in attendance the heads of the Navy, Army, Police and the State Security
Service, among others.
National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo
Dasuki (retd.); Minister of State, Defence, Olusola Obada; Minister of
Police Affairs, Navy-Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd.); and Minister of
Interior, Abba Moro, also attended the meeting.
Chairman of the Presidential Committee
on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North,
who is also the Minister of Special Duties, Mr. Kabiru Turaki (SAN),
and a female member of the committee also made an appearance at the
meeting.
As usual, none of those who attended the
meeting was willing to talk to journalists at the end of the meeting,
but a source close to the meeting told one of our correspondents that
the meeting reviewed the success of the state of emergency in Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa states.
He said Turaki also presented to the
meeting the progress report made by his committee that had been meeting
with members of Boko Haram, and other stakeholders in troubled parts of
the country.
The source added that issues bordering
on early lifting of the emergency rule in the affected states to further
give room for dialogue took centre stage at the meeting.
Jonathan had on Sunday, during a talk
with the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, on the
sideline of the 21st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State
and Government of the Africa Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, hinted that
the state of emergency declared in the three northern states might soon
be called off.
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See this GEJ oo! First finish with one (Boko Haram), before thinking of awakening other sleeping dogs. You also forgot your immediate brothers in Bayelsa State who are killing security officers everyday and stealing crude oil. Oga GEJ, I know you want to contest 2015 elections, so tread slowly.
ReplyDeleteStop fooling us and deal with the evil corruption that these elites are committed to with impunity and all radical views will die off. How on earth can MASSOB be a problem? Unless the state wants it to be.
ReplyDeleteHave you clamp down on Bamanga's son involve your god given oil 'subsidy', Anenih stealing in the NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY.
ReplyDeleteYou and your team lack the capacity to handle this country.
Let me tell you if BUHARI is a member of Bokoharam arrest him otherwise call him and hand over to him, to pilot the affairs of this great nation. You lack what it takes to lead us. To be the president of a nation is not by name but quality, ability to do so. Imagine from primary one to your phd was all in Port Harcourt. From all indication you know little about Nigeria. Let me tell you if you don't sack Bamanga Tukur and Tony Anenih, please forget 2015 election.
a good president should not be biased. GEJ is only doing iw job....there cant be two or three presidents in one country...pls think about it brothers...
ReplyDeletemost of these faction leaders see themselves as presidents and kings....let GEJ work, not just politics as usual. Cheers