The Nigeria Governors Forum on Friday threatened to pressurize President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve security chiefs of their duty, if they cannot stay on top of security challenges bedeviling the country.
The threat was made by Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, when members paid a condolence visit to Governor Simon Lalong, over last weekend killing of around 200 persons in some villages in Plateau State.
Yari said, “We are here to console you, the families of the victims and the entire people of Plateau State for this unfortunate thing that happened to the State, and we pray Almighty God would give the families the fortitude to bear the loss, and those that lost their lives, we pray for the repose of their souls.
“We are here to encourage you that you shouldn’t lose focus.
“And we are worried, because Plateau State during your time has experienced relative peace and we are happy with that, but all of a sudden, things began to take another dimension.
“We promise we are going to be behind you and our president to give both of you the necessary encouragement and support, to ensure that the relevant security agencies must stand up and do their jobs.
“We are going to very soon as we have agreed collectively, have a one-day interface with the security chiefs, to ensure that they understand where we are and how this thing is depleting the relationship between the citizens and as a nation the threat that we are under, as we are under a time bomb as leaders.
“They should do their jobs perfectly or else, we have no option than to ask the President to relieve them, that’s the only point”, he threatened.
“Our hands are on deck, the little resources we have are going to handling of security challenges, instead of focusing on development”.
The NGF Chairman had earlier lamented that Zamfara State had experienced 115 attacks between March 1st and June 1st, 2018, which he said claimed the lives of 435 persons.
Responding, Governor Lalong thanked the Forum for the visit.
The Governor reiterated that since he came into office, his focus has been to ensure that peace is restored in the state.
“We achieved this for three years. If you ask an average Plateau person, how this thing happened, he will say ‘we don’t know’.
“To me as a governor, we were taken by surprise in Plateau State, because once the devil plans his action, he will want to take people by surprise.
“We thank God that within that short time, we were able to nip it in the bud”, he added.
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