Schoolgirls’ abduction, slap on nation’s security – OPC
Gani Adams
The Oodua People’s Congress has
described the continued seizure of the over 200 Nigerian girls abducted
on April 14 by the Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Borno State, as a
slap on the nation’s security.
OPC National Coordinator, Otunba Gani Adams, said the development indicated that the country was not safe for residents.
He said Nigerians in the Diaspora would
not want to visit the country because of the security challenges,
especially killing of innocent people and destruction of their property.
In a telephone interview with our
correspondent during the week, Adams said the insecurity was a potent
factor that could prevent investors from bringing their resources into
the country.
He, however, condemned the recent
attacks on Nigerians in Kano and Plateau states where scores were killed
by the Boko Haram terrorists.
Adams urged the Federal Government to
look beyond the military in the fight against the Boko Haram menace by
engaging relevant stakeholders.
He hailed members of the vigilance groups that recently prevented attack on the people in some communities
in Adamawa State.
Adams said, “Majority of the Boko Haram
members are not Nigerians; they infiltrated Nigeria through illegal
routes. Report claims that there are 1, 400 illegal routes in the
country. That is why we members of the National Security Committee
suggested that there must be community police different from the regular
police.
“We suggested that the community police
must be well equipped to arrest and prosecute suspected criminals. We
also suggested that border security must be emphasised to check the
persistent infiltration of the country.”
Adams urged the Federal Government to rescue the Chibok schoolgirls still held by the Boko Haram insurgents.
He, however, denied involvement of OPC members in the lynching of suspected kidnappers in Lagos State.
Adams said OPC, which he described as a
peace-loving organisation, did not participate in all the cases of
jungle justice recorded in the state.
Reacting to insinuation in some quarters
that members of the group have been responsible for the lynching,
Adams, who claimed that jungle justice had been in existence centuries
before OPC was formed, denied that his members were involved in the
dastard acts.