The legal practitioner also lambasted the state governor for leaving his people in a mourning mood to attend a cherry-making meeting hosted by President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
A Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, has described the massive killing of Plateau State residents by suspected terrorists as an indication that the Nigerian government has turned the country’s security sector into a means to siphon public funds.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria who said this in a press statement he made available to SaharaReporters on Wednesday noted that the government of President Bola Tinubu had failed the country and its people over its inability to end incessant killings by non-state actors across the country.
He added that the claim made by the Plateau Governor, Caleb Mutfwang that over 64 communities had been taken over by terrorists means that the Nigerian government had not been accountable in their dealings in the security sector.
Adegboruwa said, “The recent gruesome killings in Plateau State prove beyond doubt that governance has failed in Nigeria. Since May 29, 2023 when the President took over the mantle of leadership, the fortunes of Nigerians have dwindled and life generally has become uncertain and hellish. The verdict on the streets of Port-Harcourt, Kaduna, Uyo, Onitsha, Gombe, Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Makurdi, Lokoja and indeed all parts of the country is that this particular government has failed Nigerians.
“Under and by virtue of section 14 (2) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. The revelation by the Governor of Plateau State that over 64 communities in the State have been taken over and are being inhabited permanently by terrorists for well over two years running is a loud confirmation of the lack of transparency on the part of our leaders in dealing with the people. As far as the relevant laws of Nigeria are concerned, security matters lie principally with the federal government led by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces who in this case is the President. That sacred duty is not being discharged creditably and in accordance with the good expectation of Nigerians.”
The legal practitioner also lambasted the state governor for leaving his people in a mourning mood to attend a cherry-making meeting hosted by President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
The statement continued: “It is therefore shocking that a day after close to 200 hundred citizens have been brutally murdered in cold blood and others displaced from their homelands in their thousands in Plateau State, the President was comfortable to host Governors in the comfort of his home in Banana Island Lagos, instead of visiting the scene of the carnage to solidarize with his fellow citizens who are being killed in droves and have since become helpless and defenceless. How could the Governor of Plateau State be comfortable leaving his home state for a solidarity visit to celebrate Christmas with the President in far-away Lagos? What message was the Governor sending to his people? The Federal Government should have declared a state of emergency on security and directed a low-key Christmas celebration in solidarity with the people of Plateau State.
“It would seem that security is gradually becoming a scam in Nigeria, through which our leaders siphon money without actually offering any tangible solution for the protection of lives and property. In this particular case of the killings in Plateau State, the President relapsed into the usual refrain of press statements, without any concrete action to combat the terrorists or bring them to justice.
“Quite apart from the failure in security, the Tinubu administration has imposed suffering and mass hunger and poverty upon the people through failed economic policies that have led to inflation and mass sufferings. The mantra of the so-called Renewed Hope has only been employed to lure our people into slumber while the leaders go on living in luxury and affluence and the youths and citizens are left to seek greener pastures in foreign land in the name of JAPA.
“The President has had enough time to convince Nigerians about his determination to improve their lives but no tangible change has taken place since his inauguration beyond propaganda and the usual press releases that address nothing. If there is no genuine programme to lift Nigerians out of the present economic woes, let the President do the needful by resigning.”