Attacks on Buhari’s convoy, Kuje Prison proved terrorists can strike anywhere — Afenifere

Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, has also condemned the attack on the advance presidential team to Daura, hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari, and the bombing of the Kuje Correctional Service, Abuja.

He said the attacks were affirmations that the insecurity situation in Nigeria was getting out of hand at a rate faster than acknowledged by the authorities who should deal with it.

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 National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, in a statement, regretted that the two attacks were not isolated as reports of terrorism attacks occasioning loss of lives, kidnapping, raping, bodily harms etc occurred on a daily basis.

“The nature of these attacks should send serious signals to the governments, to the security agencies and indeed to all Nigerians. The one on the presidential team seems to be coded language by enemies of the nation that they are not afraid of anyone notwithstanding the status of such a person. For, it goes without saying that a presidential team would normally be fortified. So, for a group to attack such a team must be out of sheer bravado – which unfortunately further exposed how vulnerable our security situation is,” the group said.

Afenifere added that the attack on Kuje Correctional Centre, like some other attacks that occurred in such areas, “appears to be a statement by those enemies of Nigeria that they can strike anywhere and at any time.

“For this Kuje attack, taken together with the fatal attack on a military team in Niger State last month, keeps reminding one of the build-up of  the Afghanistan saga that led to the forceful take-over of government in that country last year. Everything needs to be done to ensure that such does not occur here,” it said.

 Afenifere reiterated that the nature of the ongoing terrorism attacks had shown that the objectives of those behind it went beyond religion or even economic.

“It is without any doubt territorial and hegemonic in nature. Their aim is to ‘conquer’ indigenous people and impose their hegemony over them. Reports from some of the territories they have taken over revealed how they were forcing people to pay them taxes before those people could be allowed to carry out their daily activities,” it added.

Ajayi maintained that it is the responsibility of the government that no external entity comes around to impose its force over the people of any area within its sovereignty.

“In other words, effective machinery must be set in motion for a proper restructuring of the country immediately while states are allowed to set up their own police forces as a short time measure to the insecurity ogre that is about to consume everybody,” Ajayi said.