His Excellency, Peter Obi has decried the Endemic and worrisome security challenges in Nigeria.
He wrote below :
“It is saddening and very worrisome that 10 years after the unfortunate kidnap of over 250 young girls from Chibok in Borno State, 91 of them have continued to remain in captivity. What is more distressful is that a decade later, the situation of insecurity in the nation has continued to worsen with almost every part of the country experiencing different levels of security threats. About 276 girls who were kidnapped from their schools in April 2014 have continued to undergo different traumatic experiences at the hands of their abductors. While a few have found their escape to freedom, many of our children are still trapped in captivity. This puts a serious question mark on our compassion as leaders, who have not been able to save the young girls from their abductors, especially when you consider that the 91 is not just a number, but young girls from different families suffering in captivity for a decade. What efforts has the government made to ensure better security of lives and property for every Nigerian?
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In the last decade, our security situation has continued to worsen. We are today among the 5 most terrorised countries in Africa and the 10 most dangerous countries in the world. Also, Nigeria now ranks 144 out of 163 countries measured on the global peace index, showing a high level of unrest and violence within our borders. Nigeria now ranks 10th in Africa’s most unsafe countries for women. A report by SBM Intelligence states that since 2019, there have been 735 mass abductions in Nigeria, while between July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were abducted in 582 kidnapping cases with about 5 billion naira ($3,878,390) paid in ransoms. In the first 3 months of 2024 alone, about one thousand Nigerians were kidnapped.
This heartbreaking situation should worry every patriotic Nigerian. Insecurity anywhere in the nation remains a threat to security everywhere in the nation. As long as any Chibok girl, and indeed every Nigerian, remains in captivity, every Nigerian is in captivity.
I urge the government and our security agencies to make more efforts to free the remaining Chibok girls from this long decade of captivity and reunite them with their families.
Our commitment to the New Nigeria is to build a safe and secure nation for all, free from violence and terrorism, but booming in productivity, where every Nigerian will be free to live and thrive. -PO
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