The apex northern socio-political organization, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has condemned the political coloration being given to terrorist activities in the north-eastern part of the country.
The Forum specifically expressed its displeasure at the blame game between the Federal Government and the Borno State Government over the abduction of over 200 pupils in the state.
The terrorist group, Boko Haram, had abducted the students from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, on April 14.
National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Mr. Muhammadu Ibrahim, who spoke in an interview in Kaduna weekend, said continued attacks by the sect was a threat to the country’s unity.
The ACF said, “It’s unfortunate that the issue of insurgency in the north-east zone has been politicised, with the governments at the federal and state levels accusing each other of failing to discharge their constitutional responsibility of protecting the citizenry. Meanwhile, the killing of innocent people and destruction of their property by the insurgents have continued unabated.
“We must, therefore, unite and fight the terrorists in our midst as their activities are against the tenets of all religions and humanity.
“ACF is unhappy with this development and, therefore, calls on the governments to sheathe their swords and provide the needed protection from further attacks, concrete efforts towards rescuing the kidnapped Chibok girls and also rehabilitation materials to the displaced people in the various towns and villages destroyed by the Boko Haram terrorists”.
The forum said governments must intensify intelligence gathering and be more proactive in tackling the insurgency “that is ravaging the northern states”.
The forum stated, “The daily attack on innocent people and bombing of markets, community centres and even government buildings is a serious threat to our existence as a nation”.
The ACF urged government to take the issue of security seriously and provide the necessary equipment to the military to tackle the insurgency.
It noted that President Goodluck Jonathan had during the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Executive Council meeting recently, promised to look into the problems confronting the military in surmounting insurgency, including the lack of military hardware and other logistics.
“ACF equally urges the community to collaborate with the military in the areas of intelligence gathering and sharing to enable the security agencies combat the activities of insurgents and other criminals in our land”, Mr. Ibrahim added.
