*’Govt Pays Criminals, Then Denies’
*You Can Rally International Community To Help As Govt Has Failed To Protect You, He Charges Nigerians
*Amidst Killings, Govt Seems Incapable Of Protecting Us, He Adds
By our reporter
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has opened a window of suspicion into the criminality fightback operational dynamics of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, saying rather than “take out” murderous terrorists ravaging the land, it prefers to negotiate with them.
Also, he urged Nigerians to understand that they are at liberty to seek help from outside the country when they feel they are not being secured by their national government.
Obasanjo stated these while speaking at the Plateau Unity Christmas and Praise Festival, ongoing at the Ten Commandments Prayer Altar, Dwei-Du, Jos South Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State.
He said: “I believe that is nonsensical. We are being killed. We Nigerians –no matter what religion you belong to, no matter where you come from, no matter your profession, we Nigerians– are being killed, and our government seems to be incapable of protecting us.
“We are part of the world community. If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot do for us. If we are being killed, it is the responsibility of government to do something about it.
“We should ask government to do what it has to do at all levels. We should ask our leaders to do what they have to do at all levels, in all walks of life.
“In these days of technology, there should be nobody hiding anywhere after he has committed a crime that cannot be seen with the present day satellite.”
Obasanjo added: “Before I left government, I knew we had the capacity to pick up anybody in Nigeria. The capacity we didn’t have then was that, after we had identified and located such a criminal, we didn’t have the capacity to pick him up without moving on land or by air.
“Now we have capacity with drones. You can take them out. Why are we not doing that?
“Why are we negotiating? And after government has paid these criminals, government denies!
“We should appeal to our government to do what needs to be done to stop Nigerians being killed.
“We are tired of being killed, and we want the killing of Nigerians –whether they are Christians or Muslims or pagans, they are Nigerians, and the life of every Nigerian matters– it should stop.”
Recall that the Federal Government has consistently stated that it was winning the war on terror, dismissing claims that it preferred to pay terrorists rather than rout them.
Defence headquarters routinely briefs the media where it claims victories against terrorists on the battlefield even as there now appears to be a sudden upsurge in terrorist hits across the country.
The situation , especially a claimed genocide on Christians by violent extremist Islamic armed militias, prompted US President Donald Trump to issue a threat to invade Nigeria soon to uproot the terrorists, saying the US has the required political will and military-technological might to devastate terrorists murdering Christians in the country -a development his government attributed to alleged sympathy and/or involvement of unnamed Nigerian officials with some terror groups.
Furthermore, the Trump administration said it will unfurl a list containing the identities of the said officials and their powerful non-state allies, before proceeding to place international sanctions on them.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Ex-President Obasanjo.
