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| Atiku |
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said Boko Haram fighters can overrun
Nigeria unless government wakes up to its responsibility of protecting the
citizens.
Atiku
said this at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday while speaking on the
humanitarian crisis caused by the recent territorial gains made by the
insurgents.
He noted
that it was pathetic that the Nigerian military, which fought a civil war and
achieved total reconciliation and reconstruction within 30 months, was today
unable to deal with an insurgency which has lasted for five years.
The
former Vice President argued that the nation was suffering from a leadership
deficit because, five years was more than enough to re-equip the entire
military.
According
to him, the extremist sect currently controls two local government areas in
Yobe, five in Adamawa and about nine in Borno State.
He said,
“Ever since these terrorists have been taking over territories, there was never
a time the Nigerian military has recovered one inch of any lost territories in
these five years.
“Can you
imagine a whole country like Nigeria with its armed forces? Not one inch of
terrorists territory recovered from the terrorists? How can you now convince me
that this government has the capacity to recover an inch if, in the last five
years, they have not recovered one inch?
“Government
must rise up to its responsibility of protecting its citizens, otherwise, the
whole of this country can be overrun.”
The APC
Presidential aspirant, who was flanked by legislators from both chambers of the
National Assembly; including a former Governor of Yobe State, Buka
Abba-Ibrahim, accused government failing to rise to the occasion.
Additional report from Punch
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