The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says the Federal Government must not shy away from seeking foreign assistance as insecurity continues to worsen in the country, especially in the north.
CAN President, Dr. Samson Ayokunle made the call in a Wednesday statement by his media aide, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, titled, “Kankara Abduction: Governments have learnt nothing from previous kidnappings”.
He was referring to last Friday’s abduction of 333 students from Government Science Secondary School (GSSS), Kankara in Katsina State and similar incidents in the past.
The senior cleric said that by kidnapping the students on the same day that President Muhammadu landed in Katsina, the assailants have passed a strong message that the security architecture of Nigeria has been compromised under his watch.
According to the CAN boss, the government appears unconcerned about the deteriorating security situation in the country.
He said that the government must seek help to check the threats posed by terrorists, bandits and criminal herdsmen so that they do not plunge Nigeria into civil war.
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“The fact that the unfortunate incident happened while the Chief Security Officer of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari, is in his home state means these criminals have sent a strong message to him that the security architecture of the country has been compromised under his watch.
“The abduction has also exposed the failure of both the government and the security agencies to learn from the abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, in Borno State, and 110 schoolgirls at the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi, in Yobe State, in 2018.
“It also means all stakeholders in the education sector have learnt nothing from the two historic tragedies, despite the fact that our security agencies have failed to secure the release of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and the only Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, who is still wasting in the den of the terrorists.
“From all indications, our governments are not bothered about the security of the people despite all the killings that are being recorded daily. The president turned down the invitation of the House of Representatives to explain and rob minds with the legislators on the way out of our deplorable security situation.
“What an attitude of ‘I don’t care!’ President Muhammadu Buhari should remember that history is being written about him with the way he is addressing all these security challenges, just as we are talking about the Chibok schoolgirls and the Jonathan administration.
“This was what CAN foresaw long before now when we were calling on the president to sack the service chiefs and, by extension, to overhaul the security architecture. But he was not ready to listen to the voice of wisdom.
“We advise President Buhari to revisit all his electioneering promises on the security and compare them with what the security has become under his watch.
“We also call on the international community to come to our aid in Nigeria and help put to a permanent end the siege of terrorists, bandits and criminal herdsmen masquerading and causing mayhem in our country. They shouldn’t wait till when the situation snowballs into a civil war.
“CAN calls for the suspension of the boarding facilities in all the private and government schools in the Northern part of the country until the security situation improves,” the CAN President’s statement read.