… Says More Nigerians have been killed in last 10 years than during civil war
FORMER Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger state, Hon. Jonathan Vatsa has on Sunday joined his voice with those calling on Nigerians to stand up to defend themselves from attacks following the recent statement by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) that says “foreign Herders are behind the ongoing mass killings in Benue, Plateau and other states of the country”.
Vatsa in a statement made available to Journalists in Minna, advised that “desperate disease deserve desperate attention and that is the situation we are right now”.
It should be recalled that, the Defence Headquarters through the Director Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye had last week told journalists in Abuja that violence attacks on local communities and killings of farmers in Plateau, Benue and other parts of the country are mostly perpetrated by foreign Herders.
The APC Chieftain while reacting to a statement credited to the Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye stated that some well meaning Nigerians had before now called for self defence.
Accordingly, he said “some prominent and well meaning Nigerians have been suggesting and calling on Nigerians to rise up and defend themselves against the unprovoked attacks and killings of innocent farmers and other Nigerians across the country but the government has continued to turn it eyes the other way while Nigerians are being slaughtered amidst ongoing hardship.
“The revelation by the Defence Headquarters is a clarion call for Nigerians to rise up and defend themselves against foreign invaders.”
The former Commissioner for Information Culture and Tourism further stated that “this revelation from the military high command is enough reason for Nigerians to wake up from their slumber and defend themselves from being wipe out by these foreigners who have invaded the country for economic war.
“I reliably gathered that these foreign Herders invade the country for economic missions, in connivance with their local counterparts to unleash terror on the people.
“They said Nigerians are rich and when you kidnapped them, they are ready to pay any amount. That is why they come into the country through our porous boarders especially in the North, and they troop in their numbers to make money through kidnapping of innocent citizens whose relations in most cases sell all their belongings and life savings to pay as ransom.
“These criminals also rustled cattle and take them across the borders with ease. Nigerians are faced with double jeopardy of hardship and insecurity.”
While arguing that the need for Nigerians to defend themselves is long overdue, Vatsa stated that “the difference between Nigerians and these armed foreign invaders is that they carry guns and Nigerians are not allowed to carry gun.
“They also know that there are a numbers of ungoverned communities across the country where there are no security presence; that is why they are concentrating their nefarious activities in our local communities, dispossessing our people of their hard earned money and other valuables”.
He however described as unfortunate, a statement credited to some ‘opportunists political leaders’ who believe that the current security situation in the country has not reached the level of Nigerians to defend themselves, saying that “when some people are being protected by over 200 armed security agents, they will not know what ordinary Nigerians especially in the villages and rural areas go through.
“It is laughable to hear some political leaders who became what they are by accident, arguing that the security situation in the country has not gotten to the level where Nigerians should be allowed to defend themselves in a country where people die everyday as if the country is at war.
“I have said it before and I will say it again that, the total number of Nigerians that have been killed in the last 10 years is more than the number of people killed during the Nigerian civil war, and yet someone is sitting under air-condition with over 200 security agents around him saying that the security situation has not gotten to the level of Nigerians to defend themselves”.
Furthermore, he warned that “if our leaders fail to do the needful while in office, when they leave, they may one day be a victim of the situation they have failed to address.
“Nigerians are tired of paper talk, what is needed as far as the security situation in the country is concerned is practical action not mere statement for newspaper publication”.
