Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Boko Haram Clamp Down: APC Commends Military, Berates President Jonathan
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The All Progressives Congress has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of allowing the Boko Haram insurgency to fester, leading to the deaths of over 15,000 Nigerians and the displacement of over three million others in the past six years.
This, the party said, puts a huge moral burden on the President, noting that this would haunt him for a long time to come.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Muhammed, said this in a statement he issued in London on Tuesday.
The party also hailed the military for the successes it had recorded in the battle against Boko Haram in recent times, saying the string of victories confirmed the party's stand that the Nigerian military could hold its own anywhere and anytime, if provided with the necessary equipment and if the morale of the troops was not undermined.
Mohammed said by his own admission, President Jonathan accepted that he and his team 'underrated the capacity of Boko Haram', thus finally owning up to his globally-acknowledged incompetence, which in truly democratic societies, should be part of a statement of resignation by a leader.
According to him, Jonathan's "terrible error of judgment" had caused so many deaths and inflicted so much pain and sorrow on Nigerians.
The statement partly read, "The truth is that President Jonathan deliberately allowed the Boko Haram crisis to fester because he and his team saw it as their trump card for winning re-election in 2015 by currying local and global sectarian sympathy with a Muslim-group-killing-Christians narrative that totally distorts the fact that Boko Haram is a band of marauders who have no consideration for ethnicity, regionalism, religion or any other thing beyond their mad disposition to terror.
"The marauders are equal-opportunity killers who went after Christians, Muslims, northerners, southerners, men, women, the old, the young, the rich and the poor.
"It recalled that the APC had raised the alarm on many occasions, including during an appearance at the British Parliament in 2014 when the party's spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the PDP and President Jonathan were using the Boko Haram crisis as a trump card to retain power in 2015.
"Is it not curious that the same President who has stood by while Boko Haram decimates a whole section of the country over the past six years has suddenly realised there is something he could do to crush the sect in six weeks?
"Is it not curious that a military that has been globally acknowledged for its successes in peacekeeping at regional and international levels has suddenly found itself unable to tackle a band of criminals?
"Is it not curious that the necessary fighting equipment that have not been made available to the military, despite the injection of over $32bn into the defence and security sector since 2008, have suddenly become available?"
The APC also asked at what point did President Jonathan begin to have a clear idea that Boko Haram is a major threat to the very survival of our country or was it after about 300 innocent girls were abducted from their school in Chibok or before?
"Was it after hundreds of boys were slaughtered in a secondary school in Buni Yadi or before? Or, was it before or after the Nyanya blast that led to the deaths of hundreds of people? Just when did our President wake up to his primary responsibility?" it further queried.
The APC insisted that the truth is that the PDP-led Jonathan Administration stepped up the campaign against the insurgents to revive their electoral fortunes which nosedived with the activities to the sect.
Mohammed also said, "President Jonathan, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, must take responsibility for the monumental cost, whether of his incompetence or his political strategy-gone-awry or both, apologise to the nation and immediately back down from seeking re-election.
"The President must not be allowed to profit from an error of judgment that has cost 15,000 lives, forced over 3 million out of their homes and cost the taxpayers $32.88bn."
The party also expressed concern at the efforts of the Jonathan administration to make Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau look invincible, with the President's statement that Shekau would be caught before the elections.
This, the party said, puts a huge moral burden on the President, noting that this would haunt him for a long time to come.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Muhammed, said this in a statement he issued in London on Tuesday.
The party also hailed the military for the successes it had recorded in the battle against Boko Haram in recent times, saying the string of victories confirmed the party's stand that the Nigerian military could hold its own anywhere and anytime, if provided with the necessary equipment and if the morale of the troops was not undermined.
Mohammed said by his own admission, President Jonathan accepted that he and his team 'underrated the capacity of Boko Haram', thus finally owning up to his globally-acknowledged incompetence, which in truly democratic societies, should be part of a statement of resignation by a leader.
According to him, Jonathan's "terrible error of judgment" had caused so many deaths and inflicted so much pain and sorrow on Nigerians.
The statement partly read, "The truth is that President Jonathan deliberately allowed the Boko Haram crisis to fester because he and his team saw it as their trump card for winning re-election in 2015 by currying local and global sectarian sympathy with a Muslim-group-killing-Christians narrative that totally distorts the fact that Boko Haram is a band of marauders who have no consideration for ethnicity, regionalism, religion or any other thing beyond their mad disposition to terror.
"The marauders are equal-opportunity killers who went after Christians, Muslims, northerners, southerners, men, women, the old, the young, the rich and the poor.
"It recalled that the APC had raised the alarm on many occasions, including during an appearance at the British Parliament in 2014 when the party's spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the PDP and President Jonathan were using the Boko Haram crisis as a trump card to retain power in 2015.
"Is it not curious that the same President who has stood by while Boko Haram decimates a whole section of the country over the past six years has suddenly realised there is something he could do to crush the sect in six weeks?
"Is it not curious that a military that has been globally acknowledged for its successes in peacekeeping at regional and international levels has suddenly found itself unable to tackle a band of criminals?
"Is it not curious that the necessary fighting equipment that have not been made available to the military, despite the injection of over $32bn into the defence and security sector since 2008, have suddenly become available?"
The APC also asked at what point did President Jonathan begin to have a clear idea that Boko Haram is a major threat to the very survival of our country or was it after about 300 innocent girls were abducted from their school in Chibok or before?
"Was it after hundreds of boys were slaughtered in a secondary school in Buni Yadi or before? Or, was it before or after the Nyanya blast that led to the deaths of hundreds of people? Just when did our President wake up to his primary responsibility?" it further queried.
The APC insisted that the truth is that the PDP-led Jonathan Administration stepped up the campaign against the insurgents to revive their electoral fortunes which nosedived with the activities to the sect.
Mohammed also said, "President Jonathan, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, must take responsibility for the monumental cost, whether of his incompetence or his political strategy-gone-awry or both, apologise to the nation and immediately back down from seeking re-election.
"The President must not be allowed to profit from an error of judgment that has cost 15,000 lives, forced over 3 million out of their homes and cost the taxpayers $32.88bn."
The party also expressed concern at the efforts of the Jonathan administration to make Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau look invincible, with the President's statement that Shekau would be caught before the elections.
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