-Blank NEWS Online (NIGERIA): From Mike Sogbola, North East Correspondent:
The Borno state chapter of Network of Civil Society Organisations (NECSO) on Tuesday said President Muhammadu Buhari has lived below expectations, insisting that his administration has not secured the promised security of lives and property of Nigeria.
NECSO said the election of President Buhari has not improved security in the country now and it is hard to see if it will ever do.
Addressing a press conference in Maiduguri on Tuesday, NECSO Executive Director/Chairman, Ambassador Ahmed Shehu, lamented that the decade long Boko Haram insurgency has destroyed many lives and property in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
He decried that despite Buhari’s campaign promise to end insurgency and ensure security of lives and property all over the nation, his election and many appointments has not translated into ending insurgency now or the near future.
He noted that insurgency has displaced over 1.8 million people, with 300,000 displaced persons seeking refuge in Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
He equally lamented that insecurity to lives in Borno state is at its peak in Borno State leaving one in every four as internally displaced person with many of them children below five, and 80 per cent being women and girls.
He said there is much to be done; by Buhari administration to win the fight against Boko Haram.
Shehu said: “We are demanding for the security of people’s lives and
>>> property. You promised us security, we voted for you for security and we are demanding for security.”
He explained that out of seven roads; linking six states in the region, only the Maiduguri-Damaturu was safe and accessible.
He lamented that the 132-kilometre Maiduguri-Damaturu road has now become a death trap in 2020, asking the President to expedite action in bringing an end to the lingering security situation in the region.
He said there are recent wanton attacks on lives and property, including humanitarian workers in insurgency affected states.
He said President Buhari need not be reminded that the main purpose of government; is to secure the lives of citizens and their property.
He also called on governors and legislators in the region to intervene by employing tools at their disposals to discharge oversight functions.
He added that traditional and religious leaders; should employ their wisdom on how best they could overcome the present insecurity situation.
Shehu warned that failure to address the present insecurity would make Civil Society embark on strategic engagement of stakeholders to provide a lasting solution for security and peace.
