The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called on the Federal Government to expedite the trial of suspected kidnappers and terrorists as part of measures to address the challenge.
The group, in a statement on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, said the President Buhari-led government is giving kid-glove treatment to terrorists.
Ajayi said the administration was not doing enough to tackle terrorism and kidnapping festering daily, and, therefore, urged the Federal Government to change its style and confront the challenges head-on.
He stated that despite the assurances of the President that insecurity would be fully addressed, incidents of kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and others had escalated to the point that the governments of the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, and Denmark advised their citizens to stay away from Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
While acknowledging the reported efforts of security agencies at checkmating the antics of bandits and terrorists, Ajayi submitted that the intensity, regularity and ferocity of terrorism in the country “tend to suggest that the terrorists and bandits are ahead of the government in the game. Whereas the opposite was supposed to be the case.”
The statement read in part, “Stop the kid-glove treatment being given to arrested bandits and terrorists. Expedite action on the trials of apprehended terrorists and bandits. Clearly demonstrate that we are all equal before the law and that no individual, group or tribe should enjoy preferential treatment over and above others.”
