NBA charges Tinubu to declare state of emergency on security

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Wednesday charged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on the insecurity rocking the country.

The NBA president, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), made the call at a news briefing on the state of the nation in Abuja.

Several groups and individuals, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have previously demanded solutions to the killings and other violent crimes in the country.

The calls followed the killing of more than 200 people in some communities of Plateau State in December last year.

He said: “It is high time the Federal Government declares a state of emergency in the area of security and I urge Mr. President not to waste time and spare no effort in this regard.”

The NBA president stressed that Nigerians require a well-thought-out, informed, all-inclusive, and purposeful intervention on the problem.

He said the NBA was concerned that some Nigerians were fast losing confidence in the ability of the Federal Government to deal with the security situation in the country.

Maikyau added: “All forms of criminal activities across the nation, howsoever described, by criminal elements by whatever name called, are completely inexcusable and unacceptable.

“The entire country is under siege by terrorists, bandits, and criminal gangs. It is no longer easily determinable, if not impossible, which square kilometer of the Nigerian territory is under the authority not control of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Teachers beg Tinubu to declare state of emergency on security

“A situation where criminality dots all over the space known as the Nigeria territory, in a manner that diminishes the presence of law enforcement agencies, directly challenges the sovereignty of Nigeria.

“This is particularly so when we hear that the said bandits and terrorists are foreign nationals.

“If the activities of foreign nationals have been responsible for this high level of insecurity in our nation when the country is not at war, these criminal elements go on to boldly record and send out videos on social media platforms.

“They do this boasting about their strongholds with the territory of the Nigerian state and suffer no consequence for so doing, then there is more to it than meets the eye, and Nigerians need to be better informed of the nature of the insecurity they are dealing with.”

He implored the president to show demonstrable commitment to the security of lives and property in the country.”

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