ACF tackles Buhari for failing to hold appointees accountable, demands effective action against terrorists

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on Monday slammed President Muhammadu Buhari for failing his appointees accountable.

The group was reacting to last Tuesday’s attack on the Kuje correctional centre in Abuja by members of the Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) who freed hundreds of inmates, including 64 suspected terrorists detained in the facility.

In a statement issued by its National Secretary, Muritala Aliyu, the ACF said the country had descended into a nadir of insecurity, strife and lawlessness.

The forum stressed that recent attacks in various parts of the country had caused apprehension among Nigerians.

The statement read: “We noted that the response of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Kuje Prison tragedy in particular was to offer the familiar cocktail of platitudes, sermons, condemnations and yet more sermons. As usual, the president asked the security services to ‘investigate’ the outbreak and find out what led to it. Presumably, in the view of the president, that was all that he was expected or required to do in the circumstances.

“The required boost in manpower and equipment, long recognized as the missing link in the current campaign have remained largely unimplemented to the required level needed to secure the nation.

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“In other countries, the Kuje jail attack and similar ones that have happened in parts of Nigeria would have led to massive reshuffle, resignations, and possibly prosecutions of officials that are negligent, incompetent or plainly untrustworthy.

“We simply are unable to find any courteous or less painful words to describe the feeling of utter frustration among the broad masses of Nigeria, especially in the North, arising from the ineffectual management of the security crises by the president.

“The president in his Sallah message promised to deal with the situation before the end of his tenure. However, as long as the crises remain unabating, Nigerians will justifiably conclude that the government is ineffective and needs to do more if they will ever be able to quell the crises.

“Probably because President Buhari is unable or unwilling to hold his appointees responsible for any deterioration of the security situation and some other socio-economic sectors under their watch, the vast amount of money and other resources being pumped into the security agencies have largely been ineffective.

“No person other than the president has both the mandate and responsibility to ensure that the government of Nigeria maintains peace, security, order and good governance. We demand that President Buhari braces up without further delay and rises to today’s occasion.”

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