The All Progressives Congress yesterday said Nigerians voted President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and 2019 to, among other things, win the war against terrorism and generally secure the country.
The APC, however, stated that despite the opportunistic and pocket of attacks on some soft targets, Buhari’s administration’s resolve to degrade Boko Haram “is not in doubt.”
APC Publicity Secretary Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement yesterday, asked Nigerians to stop attaching Boko Haram with any religion, saying the sect is neither a Muslim nor Christian group, but a common enemy.
He also said that “currently, no inch of Nigeria’s territory is under the control of Boko Haram” as bandits, kidnappers and other criminal camps were being cleared with the criminals suffering heavy casualties on a daily basis.
He said the armed forces were now better equipped with their welfare prioritised; “previous insurgency-ravaged communities are being rehabilitated and resettled; gone are those days when attacks particularly on the country’s capital city of Abuja and other parts of the country were routine.”
He said the terrorists were attempting to stoke religious sensitivities by pitching Christians and Muslims against another “through their recent pattern of cowardly attacks.
“We must not fall for this divisive ploy. In our respective spaces, we should understand that these violent extremists are our common enemies, and are blind to religious and political affiliation and socio-economic status.”
He said the nation’s leaders and all others in positions of influence and authority must show leadership and temperance in their utterances and actions as doing otherwise would be acting the scripts and playing into the hands of “these fanatics seeking to divide us and pitch us against each other.”
He stated: “Recently, public commentaries on the activities of Boko Haram and bandits, as well as other forms of criminality in the country is assuming a dangerous ethno-religious slant, unfortunately influenced by insensitive and selfish partisan narratives by short-sighted groups and individuals. This is a red flag that must be checked for our collective well-being.
“Understandably, the aftermath of an attack will trigger inflamed responses particularly from those affected. We however have a duty to rise above simplistic narratives and politically-tainted criticisms which are oftentimes misplaced and counterproductive.”
