The Federal Government has been urged to as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on insecurity in view of the current precarious and devastating incidents of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities in the country.
This call was made by a renowned socio-political activist and critic, Chief Adesunbo Onitiri in a strongly-worded Press Statement issued in Lagos yesterday.
A critical problem which has claimed thousands of lives and destroyed properties worth billions of Naira needs a drastic solution and attention, he advised.
In doing so, the government should wage total war on kidnappers and bandits as well go after their sponsors, name and shame them no matter their status or how highly placed in the society, Onitiri emphasised.
He pointed out that the state of insecurity in our country had reached a devastating peak and called for major concern as no one is safe anywhere in the country.
“The kidnapping and other criminal activities are no longer the preserved occurrences in the northern part of the country. It’s daily creeping gradually into the south.
“The recent bomb blast in the heart of Ibadan city also calls for major national concern, and attention, ” the social critic declared.
Onitiri was of the view that for Nigeria to develop and prosper economically and technologically, she we desperately needed unity, peace and tranquillity.
Also for foreign investors to come and invest their hard-earned wealth in the country, we need adequate security and safety of their investments, he said.
Onitiri implored Mr President to quickly deploy the Vice President, His Excellency Senator Kashim Shetima to mobilize the northern leaders in tackling the insecurity, particularly in the North.
He recalled that the late President Musa Yar’Adua tasked former President Goodluck Jonathan, then vice president to solve the problems of the Niger Delta’s militancy.
According to Onitiri, the method worked well and there was peace in the Niger Delta areas of the country then.
The activist called on the President to revoke all solid minerals licences and scrutinise their process because illegal mining was partly responsible for insecurity.
Besides, Onitiri also admonished the government to enact stiffer penalties like death sentence for offenses of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities.
It should also discourage the payment of ransoms to kidnappers. Any bank used by kidnappers to collect ransoms should also be penalised heavily, to checkmate ransoms payments, he added.
