North East leaders under the aegis of the Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development (CNEEPD) have demanded decisive actions to end the Boko Haram/Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorism.
While expressing concern over the security situation across the country, the coalition said “the excuses being tendered by the Service Chiefs”, were no longer tenable to them.
Chairman of CNEEPD, Zana Goni, in a statement titled ‘We are tired of excuses, Sack Service Chiefs now,’ called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to as a matter of urgency implement the recent resolution of both Chambers of the National Assembly.
He urged him to rejig the country’s security architecture with a view to improving the security of Nigeria which they noted, had been so bad.
Goni regretted that their silence before now was misconstrued by some people and sections of the country because of the geographical background of the security chiefs, explaining that their action was nothing close to that.
The Elders said they exhibited silence for some time in the belief that things would get better as the security heads and the president have always promised.
The statement reads, “But we have seen that in spite of the funding of the military by our dear president and the assurances by our service chiefs that things would change, nothing seems to happen to that direction. This is regrettable.
“The worsening security situation in the country is further reinforcing the urgent need to inject new hands with fresh ideas to handle the nation’s security architecture. We have seen that the security situation under the current service chiefs has reached an unbearable state.
“There is no denying the fact that at this moment, the entire nation is distressed by the incessant mindless killing of our citizens and pillaging of defenceless communities by insurgents, bandits, and kidnappers. There is no denying the fact also that these have resulted in indescribable agony, anguish and torment to the Nigerian citizens.
“And following these mentioned above, we, the Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development, in the strongest terms, restate the call to President Muhammadu Buhari to honour the resolution of the National Assembly and positions of the majority of Nigerians to immediately remove the service chiefs and bring in new hands to effectively confront the security challenges staring us in our face as a nation.
They also noted that the current Service Chiefs were the longest in Nigeria’s history adding that they may have “become war-weary and bereft of new ideas to tackle the insecurity bedeviling the country”.