By Aiyeku Timothy
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has described the calls by Northern elders for the sack of the Service Chiefs as “beer parlour talks”.
HURIWA made this a statement by the Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development which said President Muhammadu Buhari’s New Year message was disappointing because it failed to align with the demands for the sack of Security Chiefs.
The elders had called on the President to immediately sack the current Service Chiefs and appoint new security heads in line with Nigeria’s federal character principle.
However, the Human Rights group in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the Northern elders should contribute their part in the fight against Boko Haram instead of paying unnecessary attention to the Service Chiefs.
HURIWA said Northern elders should stop their “beer parlour” criticism of the war against insurgency in the North as they urged them to partner with the military in curbing insecurity.
HURIWA also commended the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, for utilising limited resources in the fight against terrorism.
According to HURIWA: “We hereby call on Northern leaders and elders to stop the well oiled calculated and ochestrated campaign of calumny and desists from the “beer parlour” criticisms of the war on terror and return to their communities to show leadership examples to their wards and children.
“HURIWA applauded the Chief of Army Staff, LIEUTENANT GENERAL YUSUF TUKUR BURATAI for doing so much with so little made available given the complexity involved in waging holistic war on terrorists that have global affiliation to the Middle East-based Islamic States’ terror network that is awash with secret sponsorship dollars from their institutional and private supporters.”
