Although President Muhammadu Buhari in faraway Saudi Arabia restated his resolve to battle terrorism with full force now that the elections are over, this did not stop the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, from expressing her frustration at the growing insecurity in the country, saying Nigeria runs the risk of a cataclysmic upheaval if the menace of banditry is not quickly contained by the security agencies.
Mrs. Buhari while lamenting the appalling security situation in the country said the people of the President’s home-state of Katsina were particularly worried that the rising spate of attacks and killings in the state was not a fitting requital for their overwhelming support for the president at the last election.
The first lady sent out the SOS while distributing relief materials to some 25,988 victims of attacks by unknown gunmen in Katsina State. She challenged the security agencies to live up to expectations.
A flustered Mrs. Buhari said, “What we have seen here is beyond the strength of a state. We are not supposed to be here giving rice, milk and others items to victims of an incident during Ramadan period.
“This is a state where we got 1. 2 million votes free of charge. It is not proper for us to give highest number of votes during the general elections and allow bandits continue to kill people and keep quiet.”
While calling for a concerted effort to arrest the situation, she said, “The security agents should either assist to take action or allow the situation to continue until bandits finish killing our people.”
She called on all well-meaning Nigerians to speak up when things are going wrong in order to force action by the government, saying silence is counterproductive.
According to her, “We should not keep silent while things are happening; thinking that if something happens today it will not happen tomorrow. What happened today will happen tomorrow, it will also happen next tomorrow if we keep silent. It is compulsory to speak the truth; it is not proper for us to give highest number of votes during the general elections and allow bandits to continue to kill people and keep quiet. We must speak on whatever is going wrong in the country.”
Earlier, the District Head of Katsina, Alhaji Aminu Abdulmumini, thanked the president’s wife for the gesture and also called on the government to intensify efforts to address the menace of banditry.
“These people need assistance, but they want the government to address the situation to enable them continue with their normal life. Almost on daily basis, we hear sound of Nigerian Air Force fighter jets. Yet, bandits are killing people. We don’t know what is happening,” Abdulmumini said.
Speaking also at the event, the First Lady of Katsina State, Dr. Hadiza Masari, who was represented by a former Commissioner for Health, Mariatu Usman, called on the federal government and the security agencies to tackle banditry and other crimes in the state. Masari stated, “We have over 20,000 persons displaced from their homes, which means they are not farming; their children are no longer in schools; their livelihoods are totally destroyed and their homes burnt down.
“We have people from 28 villages in Batsari Local Government assembled to collect assistance. This is very unfortunate. We call on the federal government to rise up to the challenge and put a stop to it.”
Other women who donated relief materials to the victims at the event included the wives of former governors of Nasarawa, Bayelsa, Adamawa, and Akwa Ibom states.
The items distributed included rice, milk, sugar and clothes. They were given to no fewer than 25,988 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who came from Batsari, Kurfi, Faskari, Danmusa, Jibia, Safana and Kankara local government areas.
