A former member of the House of Representatives and a gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of the opposition PDP in Plateau state, Hon. George Daika, has thrown his weight behind recent comment made by TY Danjuma and has called on the federal government to set up an independent commission of inquiry to look into the weighty allegations. Daika, in a chat with DAILY POST in Jos, said, “those criticising the General for speaking the truth should have a rethink as self defence is enshrined in our relevant laws”.
Danjuma had last weekend asked Nigerians, especially the people of Taraba state, his home state, to protect themselves or risk being killed by armed bandits, stressing that the military is not neutral.
Speaking at the convocation of the Taraba State University, Danjuma said: “You must rise to protect yourselves from these people; if you depend on the armed forces to protect you, you will all die”.
The former minister of Defence accused the military of colluding with armed herdsmen and clearing routes for them to carry out attacks.
The former Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly maintained that, “Killings continue unabated across the country particularly on the Plateau where ethnic cleansing is ongoing at an alarming rate with the security agencies unable to stop the drift.
“Dong a village just about three (3) kilometers from the Maxwell Kolbe cantonment, (Rukuba Barracks) in Plateau State has witnessed recurring attacks leaving scores dead.
“What more complicity on the part of the Armed Forces than their inability to stop killings in their backyard?” he asked.
“What of the Inspector General of Police who disobeyed the President on the insecurity in Benue State and nothing happened?” he further asked.
Daika added that rather than criticising General Danjuma, who has contributed tremendously towards a better and united Nigeria, he should be commended for his patriotic bluntness on the sad situation of things in the country. “The General’s statement should be seen as a wake up call on the authorities to rise up to their constitutional responsibilities.”
The PDP chieftain, who represented Shendam/Mikang/Quaan Pan federal constituency, said, “I will advise the federal government to call for an independent commission of inquiry to look into the weighty allegations of General TY Danjuma as the Government through the actions and utterances of ranking security heads like the Minister of Defence and the Inspector General of Police itself, cannot be trusted to objectively bring to book the bad eggs colluding with the Armed bandits.”
Daika further called on Nigerians to be law abiding while consistently remaining vigilant to appropriately defend themselves whenever the need arises “since the State has failed in its primary responsibility of protecting the lives and property of its citizens”.
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