National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Folake Sokoya
Following alleged infiltration of foreigners from Niger Republic into the country, the Advocacy for Integrity and Economic Development (AIED) has called on the Federal Government to immediately sack the Interior Minister, General Dambazau, the Comptroller General of Immigration and other security agencies vested with the responsibility of checking illegal immigrants into the country.
It will be recalled that few days ago the Governor of Kaduna of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai had raised the alarm alleging that the mammoth crowd that thronged the Sokoto rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday, last week were ‘imported’ from Niger Republic
The group however viewed this allegation with serious concern which should not be swept under the carpet more so as it was coming from a sitting governor of the ruling party in the county, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“As the Chief Security Officer in his State, Mallam El-Rufai must have been privileged to have first hand intelligence reports and could not have been speaking out of mischief or ignorance”.
“The Federal Government must, with immediate effect, sack those concerned with keeping our borders safe and dig deeper into the allegation by working in tandem with the Kaduna State Governor who seems to have exhibited certified knowledge about the nefarious activities of the terrorists and killer herdsmen in order to bring the culprits to books”.
AIED further stated that “the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Rufai, who blew the whistle has a very vital role to play in helping the Federal Government by providing necessary information that could aid the investigation”.
We also warned that if the Federal Government is sincere about the safety of Nigerians in the war against terrorism, then it must act quickly as it has been established that the unprecedented spate killings by herdsmen being witnessed in the country in the recent past were being carried out by foreigners who found their way into the country through yet to be established routes.
“Malam Rufai’s expose should provide a lead towards stemming the scourge of terrorism and curbing incessant attacks by herdsmen in the country.
“This will further justify the readiness of the Buhari Administration to secure Nigeria as a nation as well as reduce the myriads of accusations of incompetency and cluelessness being hurled at the Federal Government”.
This unfortunate development raises concern for the 2019 election as there is no guarantee that same foreigners will not be given unfettered access into Nigeria to compromise the nation’s elections in 2019.
AIED warned that if the allegation was found to be outright falswhood and blackmail to discredit the opposition, Governor el-Rufai should be tried for treasonable offences and spreading false information capable of bringing tension and violence in the country especially as we inch closer to general elections.
