President Goodluck Jonathan
Borno
Elders’ Forum has described President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to
Borno and Yobe states as counterproductive. It said more than 500
civilians were allegedly killed by soldiers few days after the President
left.
The elders accused Jonathan of inciting soldiers against civilians in the area.
Jonathan had visited the two states
between March 7 and 8, 2013. He had at a town hall meeting in Maiduguri
warned against killing of security operatives, saying, “We will not, and
I repeat, we will not accommodate it.”
Secretary of the forum, Dr. Bulama Gubio,
in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the people were
considering a referendum to cede the area from Nigeria to join a
neighbouring country.
He said, “The President came and preached
violence. So, it is now violence. He came with soldiers to continue
killing people. The President came to Borno and preached violence; that
is all. Immediately he left, not less than 500 was killed within few
days after he left.
“Our Shehu was bombed, he did not
sympathise with him; our deputy governor was bombed, he did not
sympathise with him; so many prominent people among us were killed, he
did not condole us and then he went ahead to say if one soldier died, he
would not forgive anybody.”
When asked if he could prove that the
President gave such orders, he said, “He did not give any order but when
the President visits a place where people have been dying for four
years and he does not sympathise with the people, “it means it’s because
of a soldier that he wants to lose millions of ordinary citizens, or
what does it mean? He doesn’t care about so many people dying and he
only cares about one soldier dying.”
Reacting to Jonathan’s invitation to the
elders to sign a security agreement with the government before the joint
task Joint Task Force could be withdrawn from the area, Gubio asked
whether the elders in Bayelsa, Lagos, Rivers, Kaduna, Jos (Plateau) and
Kano states were responsible for the killings in their areas.
The President had said, “If anyone of you
wants the Federal Government to withdraw JTF troops from the state, he
should come and sign an agreement that if anybody is killed after
signing the document, I will hold you responsible according to the law
of the land; I assure you that before I go back to Abuja, all the JTF
troops will leave the state.”
Gubio however said, “Is that done
anywhere in the world? Who is the chief security officer of this
country? Does it mean he is giving his powers to the elders on Borno to
protect the people? What kind of thing is that? Is there anywhere in the
world that the president of a country has given his power on security
to other people?
“You should read between the lines. I
have never seen any president in the world since the beginning of time
that vests his security powers to members of the state. Do we have
superior policemen or what powers do we have to stop the killing of
people?”
However, the apex socio-political group
of the North, Arewa Consultative Forum, said it agreed with Jonathan
that the JTF could not “easily” be withdrawn from clash points across
the country without any viable alternative arrangement to secure lives
and property
The National Publicity Secretary of the
forum, Anthony Sani, said, “It may be true, like (former British Prime
Minister) Tony Blair once said, that since Boko Haram members live
within the people, it means they are shielded by such people. But such
people are by far in the minority.
“I believe Mr. President wished to say
that the leaders should do more and make the majority opposed to Boko
Haram to overwhelm the minority shielding the sect.”
PUNCH
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