Jonathan should arrest, prosecute opposition elements sponsoring Boko Haram if... —APC

IF President Goodluck Jonathan has concrete evidence of the alleged involvement of opposition elements in the sponsorship of the Boko Haram insurgency, he should promptly arrest and prosecute them, the All Progressives Congress (APC) dared on Sunday. It also described as cowardly and incomprehensible Thursday’s repeated bombing at Nyanya and called Jonathan’s fact-finding team, little-too-late.

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A statement by its spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, in Lagos, said nothing in the world could justify the mindless, senseless and barbaric killing of innocent people by a group of demented people masquerading as ideologues.

The party also said the fact that the dead-enders could bomb the same area twice in close proximity had given a fillip to the widening call on President Jonathan to provide much-needed leadership instead of shifting blames.
“That almost the same spot can be bombed twice in close proximity is the height of devilish audacity by those who perpetrated the evil act, but it is also a poke in the eye for the authorities, considering the closeness of the scene to the seat of power.
“If these insurgents are gaining strength and audacity, it is because President Jonathan has allowed them through failure of leadership. If these insurgents are back in Abuja, after almost three years of their last attack on the city, it is because they have seen a soft target in a president, who has failed to lead,’’ it said.
The APC said the time had come for the President and Commander-in-Chief to earn his epaulet by providing purposeful leadership at such a critical juncture in the history of the nation, rather than quietly egging on those who believed these insurgents were being sponsored by the opposition and some other ill-defined people to discredit the government.
“It has been argued in certain quarters that the resurgent attacks and the shameless abduction of the over 200 school girls are aimed at discrediting the Jonathan-led administration, especially ahead this week’s World Economic Forum on Africa. What these evil theorists have forgotten, conveniently, is that the activities of the insurgents tar every Nigerian, whether in the ruling or opposition party, with same brush and that no Nigerian, ultimately, benefits from these barbarous insurgency.
“Therefore, Mr President, rise above the fray and seize this moment in history to assert your leadership and stop whinging about this insurgency.
The buck stops on your desk, so stop pushing it to other people. If, indeed, you believe in the lies being peddled by your genuflecting and capricious party officials that the opposition is behind these attacks, what prevents you from ordering the arrest and prosecution of these sponsors if you have concrete evidence of their involvement?
“In any case, how did these tales-by-the-moonlight sponsorship allegations prevent your government from frontally tackling this all-consuming insurgency? Does the head of a household refuse to put off a fire set on his roof because some arsonists are behind it? Mr President, this is your battle to win or lose and you are the one history will judge over the outcome, not those self-serving members of your party,’’ the APC said.
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