Former Inspector General of Police, and chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, has criticised the Federal Government over the worsening security challenge in the North East.
Coomassie spoke in reaction to Boko Haram’s capture of more towns and villages in the North East even after the Federal Government announced it was engaging the insurgents in talks and had struck a ceasefire deal.
Speaking to Sunday Sun, Coomassie stressed that the nation’s leaders needed to address many important issues on the festering insurgency and the ongoing negotiation with the Boko Haram leaders.
“We don’t know the parties involved in the ceasefire. Who is on the government side? Who is on the Boko Haram side? Who is supervising or brokering the ceasefire? Is it national, continental or even international? What will be the outcome, we don’t know. These are very important issues which must be discussed but the important thing is this: This insurgency must be stopped so that Nigeria can develop,” Coomassie said.
He argued that when northern leaders under the auspices of ACF proposed long ago that dialogue and amnesty were viable options to end the insurgency, nobody responded but the wanton killings and destruction of property continued.”
He spoke further: “I have addressed an open letter to the president on the security challenges in the North East, in particular. Up till now, I have not received any reply.”
On whether the insurgency could jeopardize the 2015 elections, Coomassie said: “We don’t know whether it should be allowed to continue because they (the nation’s leaders) don’t want another election in 2015.
Right now, as we are talking, they (Boko Haram militants) have taken over Mubi and they have also done havoc elsewhere. They are hoisting flags in some places they claimed to have conquered and this is bad.”
He lamented that since the leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf was killed in 2009, nothing much had been done to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
Asked if he had any message for the sect, he said: “We have been advising them; whoever they are. Today they say they have killed this and tomorrow they say they have killed another one, who are the ones controlling Boko Haram? Let them come out and tell us what they want so that we can sit down and talk.”
Source: Sun
