Niger Delta Youths warn against threat to unity

Youths in the Niger Delta region have described the recent onslaught by members of the Boko Haram sect as a move to seize the North and scuttle Nigeria’s unity.

The youths, who spoke under the aegis of the Niger Delta Youths Initiative for Positive Change, expressed shock over the killing of students in Yobe State and 37 persons in Adamawa State.

National Coordinator of the group, Mr. David Ato, told SUNDAY PUNCH  that the unity of the country was already threatened by the activities of the sect, adding that the killing of Nigerians on a daily basis was unacceptable.

Ato appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to step up the fight against Boko Haram members in order to save the country from disintegrating.

He cautioned that the 2015 election might not hold in some parts of the North if measures were not put in place to improve the level of security in the area.

According to him, “Boko Haram has demonstrated that they want to ruin Nigeria’s unity. You can see how they have been wasting innocent lives recently in Yobe and Adamawa states.

“We are shocked that a group of militants could invade a community in Yobe and kill 59 students and they struck again the following day in Adamawa, killing about 37 persons.

“The best President Goodluck Jonathan should do now is to increase the fight against Boko Haram in order to protect Nigeria’s unity. The mindless killing of Nigerians in the North on a daily basis by members of Boko Haram is unacceptable.”

Calling on President Jonathan to expose the sponsors of the sect, Ato argued that Boko Haram would cease to exist if those providing financial support to it were incapacitated.

He urged the Federal Government to arrest and prosecute sponsors of the terrorist group and added that the suggestion by the House of Representatives that the nation’s Army headquarters be moved to Borno would not deter the sect from continuing in their dastardly act.

“The issue of Boko Haram is not new to him (President Jonathan). He once cried out that some members of Boko Haram were in his government. The first thing the President must do is to expose the sponsors of the group.

“Apart from exposing them (Boko Haram members), they should be arrested and prosecuted; that way, Nigerians in the northern part of the country can feel safe because Boko Haram will fizzle out naturally.

“With the way the terrorist group is going, the call on the Federal Government to move the Army headquarters to Borno State will not work. Get their sponsors first and that will spell the end of Boko Haram,” Ato stressed.