The apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Friday highlighted reasons for the high-level insecurity in Nigeria.
Ohanaeze claimed that the presidency’s alleged weak handling of killer herdsmen was responsible for the level of insecurity in the country.
Deputy National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Chuks Ibegbu also blamed insecurity in the country on the elites and government officials, who loot public funds.
In a statement he signed, Ibegbu said: “We blame the issue of insecurity on elite insensitivity, looting of our commonwealth by government officials which leave the people and youths pauperized, inadequate training for security agents and nepotism in their recruitment.
“Kids glove treatment of armed killer herdsmen by government officials and the Presidency, parasitism by the ruling elites who corner the commonwealth of the people to their bottomless pockets, culture of impunity in high and low places,injustice and inequality between the haves and have nots, and the excessive breeding of the population which leads to population explosion especially of the youth strata.”
Ibegbu also stated that the “population of idle youths in Nigeria is much caused by uncontrolled breeding especially in the North.
“There are more than 20million idle almajiris in the North, 7million area boys in the west and 10 million militants and idle hands drawn into IPOB and MASSOB in the East and South-South respectively.
“When you have this angry youth population in the country you can imagine the consequences. The elites in the North now travel from Kaduna to Abuja by rail to avoid being kidnapped along the road. The elites in the East and South-South have no functional rail to travel to so they must face the kidnappers along East-West road.
“The elites in the Southwest are luckier, they can go by air or sea and some along the risky Lagos -Ibadan expressway. So nowhere is safe any more in Nigeria, not even barracks, except perhaps Aso Rock and state Government Houses,” he added.
On the way forward, Ibegbu called on the “Nigeria elites and ruling class to repent and address the needs of the youths and common masses else they will have no peace since they sowed the wind, they will continue to reap the whirlwind.”
