The immediate past Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal
Onaiyekan has urged the Federal Government to urgently addressed
the insecurity along Abuja-Kaduna road and other parts of the
country, which has led to the kidnapping and killing of several
Nigerians.
Onaiyekan made the call on Saturday in Abuja while briefing
newsmen on the coming international conference on irregular
migration scheduled to hold on Tuesday in Abuja, with theme “Action
against Irregular Migration of Nigerians”.
He expressed sadness that Nigerians are at the mercy of
kidnappers who now carry out their criminal activities and demand
ransom without fear.
“if you have no idea of how to make Nigeria develop through
education, security amongst others then, do not go into politics.
Unfortunately I cannot say that they should not ask for my vote
because they no longer asked for votes they take it by force.
Politics is for people who will organize things for us in
Nigeria.
“This sane kidnapping issue happened along Lokoja-Kabba road
some years back. I could not travel then. I could not understand
that 30 kilometers of road cannot be policed. And they are small
boys. When government decided to do something then especially when
many of the big men were kidnapped. They tackled the issue.
“On the Abuja-Kaduna road, the government and police have told
us several times that they have put up high level security checks
and that they have cleared the road and they boys have come up and
said that they are still operating on the road. But why is that
possible because there is something wrong with the security
apparatus of this country. It should not happen that kidnapping has
now become a regular business on our high ways. It doesn’t happen
in any civilized country,” Onaiyekan said.
Speaking on the conference and the action against irregular
migration, the Cardinal said that migration was a fundamental right
of every human being but must be done in ways that would not
violate the laws of any host nations.
According to him, it is a thing of concerned for any government
to be worried about the youths of the nation engaging in irregular
migration.
While appealing to the Federal Government to address the
hardship presently ravaging the country, and which has largely
contribute to the the illegal migration and human trafficking,
Onaiyekan said that the poverty in the land makes Nigerians youths
vulnerable in the hands of smugglers.
“No matter what you tell them about the suffering others have
encountered outside the country they still believe it will be
better than what they are presently facing in the nation,” he
added.
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armed bandits
Gunmen Attack Bafarawa town, kidnap a boy
Some suspected gunmen attacks Bafarawa village and specifically
enter former governor Attahiru Bafarawa’s house in the village.
The gunmen killed his security guard, Abdullahi Jijji and
kidnapped one boy in the house with name Abdulrasheed Sa’idu.
The gunmen arrived the village in a Commando style threatening
to wiped out the whole villages of Bafarawa and Kamarawa from the
earth.
The two villages are under Isa local government area of Sokoto
state.
This is first time such kind of attack is happening in Bafarawa
town, but people of Kamarawa an adjacent neighbor village have been
experiencing such kind of attacks, killing, kidnapping and burning
of their properties.
Last Thursday former Governor Bafarawa addressed journalists in
Abuja over his commitment towards organizing security Summit along
with other northern leaders under his Foundation, Attahiru Bafarawa
Foundation to bring a lasting solutions to issue of insecurity in
the region.
Dr Suleiman Shuaib Shinkafi
Ag. DG Attahiru Bafarawa Foundation