The former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, has said if everyone keeps quiet about the current poor security situation in the country, especially the killings in Southern Kaduna, the country would die soon.
Mailafia, a development economist, and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), presidential candidate in the 2019 election, said this in an interview with newsmen.
He noted that he was not a radical, but a seeker of peace, adding that peace was impossible without justice.
Mailafia had been the guest of the Department Of State Services (DSS), following his claim in another interview that a state governor was a commander of the marauding Boko Haram terrorists.
In the interview, Mailafia said: “The fact that I am outraged by all the killings and genocide doesn’t make me a radical. If we all keep quiet, Nigeria will die. Is that what we want?
“Radicals are people who carry guns and go into the forest and start killing people. I have never used violence in my life, never encouraged anyone to use violence in my life. Even my name, Mailafia, means a man of peace, and there can never be peace without justice.
“These killings going on constitute an existential threat. I don’t know why for the life of me, that people tolerate the killings and think it is okay.
“And that when we speak and tell people about the reality of what we are facing now, they are more concerned about the sources, more concerned about political correctness; they have absolutely no concern about the holy martyrs that are being slaughtered.
“Why can’t we face the reality of the people being killed — the children, elderly, women, the youth being killed on a daily basis? That is my focus. Any other thing, to me, is diversionary. People have questioned my sources. They have questioned my political correctness.
“Why can’t they face the truth that our country is dying, innocent people are being killed, children are being slaughtered like little lambs, and women are being raped and then killed? Is this a normal country?
“Where is the outrage? Why do people accept this profound evil, this curse on this land? I reject it with the very fibre of my soul. So, I will never tone down, I will only tone down when the killings stop.
“No religion, no culture and civilisation tolerate the killing of innocent people. To say that the killing is abhorrent, the genocide is abhorrent, is a very simple maxim of universal morality.
“All I am asking is: stop the killings please,” Mailafia pleaded.
He also, recently, resigned from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State.
Meanwhile, Jihadists have killed 14 people on a Cameroonian island on Lake Chad near the border with Nigeria after their town decided to block food supplies to the insurgents, security sources said, yesterday.
Fighters from the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) landed on the island of Bulgaram aboard speedboats from an enclave on the Nigerian side late Tuesday, the sources said.
“They came around 6:30 pm (1830 GMT) while people were preparing for evening prayers and shot dead 14 community leaders,” a security source added.
Some of the victims were shot in their homes while others were killed in the mosque where they had gone to pray, said another source, who gave a similar toll.
The assault was launched after the town, a major logistical route for ISWAP jihadists on the Nigerian side of the lake, decided to cut off food supplies for the jihadists.
In recent days, local chiefs had invoked the Koran at a town hall meeting and placed a curse on any resident allowing supplies to the jihadists.
The insurgents viewed the decision as a betrayal and a show of support for the local authorities.
The past week has seen several Nigerian air raids on ISWAP strongholds that have inflicted heavy casualties, according to military and local sources.
“The terrorists believe the blockade is part of the ongoing military operation aimed at starving them while they are under bombardment,” a source added.
The Lake Chad area is a vast marshy area shared by Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Western parts of the lake have become havens for Nigerian jihadists, whose 10-year-old campaign has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
However, troops of Operation Hadarin Daji have intercepted firearms heading for Zamfara State, and recovered 11 locally-made rifles and 150 cartridges hidden in different parts of a Toyota Corolla car with registration number, Dal 41 MT.
Five occupants of the vehicle were arrested by the security operatives, who found that the weapons were being taken to Kofar Dinya in Bukkuyum Local Government Area of the state.
The operatives had also killed no fewer than 25 bandits and arrested over 150 others terrorising the North-West region.
Disclosing this in Abuja, yesterday at the weekly briefing on the ongoing security operations across the country, the Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen John Enenche, said the troops equally recovered two AK-47 rifles and magazines at Zurmi in Zurmi LGA of Zamfara State.
Enenche, who said that the feat was recorded in August, added that the military also within the period recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition while over 1,000 livestock were recovered in the zone.
According to him, troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI have continued to record significant successes against the armed bandits in the North-West Zone of the country.
“For the month of August, troops have continued to exhibit continued resilience in the fight against armed banditry, cattle rustling and other sundry crimes in the zone.
“In one of the feats recorded, troops of operation SAHEL SANITY deployed at Daki Takwas on August 20, intercepted a Toyota Corolla car with Registration Number: DAL 41 MT.
“After a diligent search of the vehicle, troops discovered 11 locally made rifles and 150 live cartridges concealed in different parts of the vehicle,” he said.
According to him, preliminary investigation reveals that the dangerous cargo was heading to Kofar Dinya in Bukkuyum Local Government Area (LGA) of Zamfara State, while five men were arrested in connection with the illegal firearms.
He said that a repentant bandit leader named Bornon Kejo willingly surrendered to troops and submitted two AK-47 Rifles and two AK 47 Rifle magazines at Zurmi in Zurmi LGA of Zamfara State.
Enenche, who said that efforts were ongoing to recover more weapons, encouraged other criminals to surrender and embrace peace.
“Troops on August 23, conducted a well-coordinated intelligence-based operation leading to the raid of an illegal mining site located along Gadan Zaima – Zuru road in Bukuyyum LGA which also serves as bandits’ hideout.
“During the operation, 150 suspects were arrested and arms and ammunition were recovered,” he said.
Enenche said investigations revealed that aside from sabotaging the nation’s economy, banditry was being financed through illegal mining activities.
“Similarly, the troops on fighting patrol reportedly encountered three bandits on motorcycles around Maigalma village in Anka LGA of Zamfara State while attempting to attack innocent residents.
“During the encounter, one of the bandits was neutralized while others escaped. Troops recovered one AK-47 rifle, one AK-47 rifle magazine loaded with five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and two motorcycles from the fleeing bandits.
“This is in addition to the neutralization of not fewer than 20 armed bandits within the month of August in Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States,” he said.
He said that the troop also intercepted seven trucks loaded with cattle suspected to have been rustled along Jibia – Katsina road and Gusau – Zaria road respectively between August 19 and August 20.
He said that the recovered cattle and suspects were handed over to the Katsina State Police Command and Zamfara State Association of Rustled Animals for further action.
“Within the period, a total of 155 bandits were arrested, no fewer than 25 armed bandits killed and over 1,000 livestock were recovered in this zone of the country.
“These successes recorded within the period are evidence of the troop’s resolve, doggedness and determination to end the security challenges in the North-West zone.
“Presently, farming and economic activities have picked up in the zone. The general public is hereby encouraged to provide timely and actionable intelligence that will assist the troops in the operation,” he said.
He said that the military high command commended all the gallant troops of the armed forces and personnel of other security agencies for the feat recorded in the various operations across the country.
“Troops are further encouraged to remain determined and to sustain the tempo in curtailing the activities of terrorists, armed bandits and other criminals.
“The High Command of the Armed Forces also reassures the general public of its unwavering commitment to securing the country for all human activities to strive.
“Members of the general public are, as always, enjoined to continue providing timely information on the activities of criminals in their various localities to the nearest military and other security agencies location for prompt and effective action,” he said.
Similarly, a group of Yoruba professionals under the aegis of Oduduwa League of Professionals (OLOP) has joined many others to drum support for the removal of service chiefs from their positions, saying that their continued stay was not adding value to the nation’s security management.
The group, which appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to listen to the voice of reason by relieving the security chiefs of their offices, said such action coupled with increment in defence budget, were the only ways to go for Nigeria’s security situation to regain its glorious place in history.
The position of Oduduwa League of Professionals came just few days after a group in the ruling All Progressives Congress, the APC Consolidation Group (ACG), asked the president to do away with the service chiefs following the worsening insecurity in the country.
The Oduduwa League of Professionals, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Prof Wale Odunsi, advised Buhari to try different hands in the security architecture, saying that such action could not only bring back the high morale but also zeal and vigour in addition to career development in the military.
But the group said sending the service chiefs packing from their offices without an increment in the nation’s defence budget could also not get the country out of the woods, as according to it, robust budget funding, which would lead to the military having necessary tools to stand taller than their adversaries, was imminent.
Odunsi, in the statement, urged the president not to look at the service chiefs as indispensable, saying that there were more efficient and tactically trained officers in the military with valour to confront the adversaries headlong and end the nation’s over a decade-long insecurity, especially the insurgency and terrorism in the North.
“We, the people of Oduduwa League of Professionals (OLOP) wish to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgent national importance, sack the current crop of service chiefs over the state of insecurity in our country. Their sack will no doubt be in our national interest, given that they seem to be now bereft of ideas on how to contend the security problems bedevilling our dear country,” it said in the statement.
The group reminded the president that: “We are joining our voices this time with that of so many Nigerians who have been calling for the immediate sack of the service chiefs.
“This call became imperative due to the lingering insecurity in the country that has claimed more than 102 of our members across the country besides the carrier stagnation in the Armed Forces of Nigeria” which it noted, “is not healthy anywhere in the world.
“Mr President, we know you as a good and listening man, but we really don’t know why you have continued to keep these service chiefs who are obviously bereft of new ideas on how to contend the worsening insecurity in the country,” it lamented.
According to OLOP, “The position of majority of Nigerians was reflected in the recent resolution of the National Assembly where members unanimously resolved that you relieve the security chiefs of their positions to pave ways for not only fresh hands but also fresh ideas in our security management strategies.