A civil rights group known as the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) on Wednesday rejected the Senate’s call for the removal of service chiefs over the state of insecurity in the country, describing the call as hollow.
President of the congress, Israel Abolaji, while presenting a quarterly review of security situation at a press conference in Lagos condemned what he called the “deceptive posturing” of the Senators on matters of security, saying it “is unreservedly condemnable, self-serving and undignified”.
The group after reviewing the security situation in the country passed a vote of confidence on all the Security Chiefs particularly the Army, Air Force and Navy Leadership “for the sustained collaborative efforts that have been deployed to curtail the various hydra-headed monsters created by our politicians in the name of unrest across the country.”
Abolaji also described as pretentious and belated the concern shown by the Senate on insecurity, noting that it is the same Senate which “refused for no apparent reason to grant a $29 billion loan request facility President Muhammadu Buhari forwarded to it for consideration in 2016”.
Part of the loan, he noted, was to be devoted to “protection of Nigerians” (security issues) for the internal security of Nigeria.
The group frowned at the crisis allegedly instigated by the Senate over the recent Governors’ approval of $1bn to fight insecurity, noting that it is the same senate that in 2016 rejected loan request by President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle insecurity.
He however urged President Buhari to ignore the call for the sack of the service chiefs, saying “the debate by Senators in plenary, which called for the removal of Service Chiefs, and their replacement, citing fresh killings in parts of the country, particularly attributed to the remarks of Sen. Solomon Olamilekan (Lagos APC) and his other colleagues is nauseating, to say the least”.
“It underscores’ the extent some national parliamentarians’ have downplayed the efforts of the Federal Government and the sacrifices Nigerian security apparatus have made in the face of biting armed internal insurrections”, he added.
The text of the press conference further reads: “We are aware of the recent controversy instigated by the same Senate over the State Governors consent to the release $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and the subtle plots to frustrate utilization of the funds for arms procurement to battle insurgency by the Buhari Presidency.
“These are public indications of the deep-seated hatred some of these Senators nurse on the security of Nigerians.
“The CRC therefore, finds it resentful, despicable and bemusing, the meaningless trumpeting of a pretentious concern about the security of Nigerians by the Senators. We are astonished by the clever manner the Senators are seeking to shift blame and transfer the burden of their irresponsible leadership to a team of security working hard to quell the internal crises some of them have instigated in their domains”.