By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday vowed that those he accused of stoking violence in the country will be treated in the language of the 30-month civil war.
Issuing the stern warning to those he accused of plotting to destroy the country through promotion of insurrection and burning down critical national assets, he warned that a rude shock awaited them, and very soon too.
A statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said the President spoke after he received briefing from Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, on series of attacks on facilities of the electoral body round the country.
“I receive daily security reports on the attacks, and it is very clear that those behind them want this administration to fail,” Buhari said.
“Insecurity in Nigeria is now mentioned all over the world. All the people who want power, whoever they are, you wonder what they really want. Whoever wants the destruction of the system will soon have the shock of their lives. We’ve given them enough time.”
Buhari recalled that he visited all the 36 states of the country before the 2019 election, “and majority of the people believed me, and the election proved it.” He promised to continue leading the country in accordance with constitutional provisions.
He said those misbehaving in certain parts of the country were obviously too young to know the travails and loss of lives that attended the Nigerian Civil War.
“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand. We are going to be very hard sooner than later.”
The President said the Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police have been changed, “and we will demand security from them.”
On the dangers posed to future elections by the burning of INEC facilities, Buhari said he would give the electoral commission all it needed to operate, “so that no one would say we don’t want to go, or that we want a third term. There will be no excuse for failure. We’ll meet all INEC’s demands.”
In his briefing, Prof Yakubu said that so far, there have been 42 cases of attacks on INEC offices nationwide, since the last general election.
“The 42 incidents so far occurred in 14 states of the Federation for a variety of reasons …. Most of the attacks happened in the last seven months, and they are unrelated to protest against previous elections. From the pattern and frequency of the most recent attacks, they appear to be targeted at future elections. The intention is to incapacitate the Commission, undermine the nation’s democracy and precipitate a national crisis,” Prof Yakubu said.
June 1, 2021