Dr Umar, who is the emir of President Muhammadu Buhari’s community, solicited for prayers, advice and goodwill of all Nigerians, especially elders, traditional and religious leaders in the country, to overcome banditry and other security challenges the way the civil war was overcome with such prayers, without sentiment.
The emir’s views were shared by Pan-Yoruba Socio-Political Organisation, Afenifere; umbrella body of Igbo socio-cultural organisations, Ohanaeze Ndigbo; and the Pan-Niger-Delta Forum, PANDEF.
While Afenifere said Umar’s view tallies with those of many prominent Nigerians, Ohanaeze said Nigeria was in an unofficial civil war. PANDEF added that Nigeria’s security architecture is no longer in a position to address the nation’s security challenges, stressing that it must be overhauled.
These came on a day Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, asked members of the special forces deployed to Katsina State not to relent in their fight against banditry, warning that they had no excuse for failure. Don’t distract security forces, Emir urges Nigerians The Emir also cautioned Nigerians against “undue interference in security matters to avoid distracting the security agencies, more so since the President is a former war-tested general and a two-time head of state, who knows the military more than any civilian.”
Speaking when the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, on operational visit to Army formations in Katsina State, visited him, the emir called for the same approach used in tackling the civil war to tackle the raging insecurity in Nigeria.
