From Segun Amure, (The New Diplomat’s Abuja Bureau)
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has urged the Federal Government and security agencies to tackle the deteriorating security situation in the country, warning that the 2023 general elections may not hold if nothing is done to stem the tide.
Akeredolu made this known on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, night.
Recall Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom had issued similar warning in the wake of the horrendous attempt on his life by some suspected herdsmen, Saturday.
Akeredolu who backed Ortom’s submission also warned that the 2023 general elections might be threatened if insecurity worsens nationwide.
The Chairman of the Southwest Governors Forum, Akeredolu thanked God for saving Ortom from his attackers.
His words read, “I think he is right, definitely we cannot conduct elections under an insecure environment. So if insecurity is not nipped in the bud, it will escalate and if it escalates, all of us should be worried that as at the time we are getting to 2023, we might have a full-scale banditry and other insecurity in the country,” he said.
“With that, there is nobody that can carry out any election under that atmosphere. What is clear is that he has made a good point that the Federal Government must sit up.
“Something just has to be done now to ensure that this issue of insecurity that is escalating by the day is now nipped in the bud and deescalated as soon as possible.”
He added, “There must be a swift response to all this level of insecurity. For now, since there is nothing else to do, those of us who believe that there should be multi-level policing and the time has come for us to have state police, it is not something you can force down.
“It is something that will have to go through the National Assembly. It takes some time but that is the goal. But before then, I believe that we can have meetings, set up committees on insecurity. Let it be addressed wholesomely without any bias.”
Nigeria has been experiencing a series of security threats ranging from terrorism, herdsmen invasion, banditry, militancy and cultism among others in several parts of the country.
The country has been battling terrorism for more than a decade which has reportedly killed about 36,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the northeast.
The Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) split from the jihadist group Boko Haram in 2016 and has since become a dominant threat in Nigeria, attacking troops and bases while killing and kidnapping passengers at bogus checkpoints.
On March 1, jihadist fighters burnt down a United Nations humanitarian compound in the town of Dikwa after dislodging troops, killing six civilians.
Nigeria’s jihadist violence has spread to neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.
