THE Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, convened round-table meeting on the security situation in the North ended in Kaduna, yesterday, with retired military generals, retired intelligence chiefs and ex-police big wigs from the North insisting that more needed to be done on the rising tide of mass murder and destruction of properties in some of the Northern states.
The meeting came on a day the Police and gangsters in Pampegua, Kubau Local Government Area of Kaduna State, exchanged fire, leaving one dead and 30 in police net.
However, while the ACF spokesman, Mr. Anthony Sani, maintained that “all the people invited to the meeting came, with the surprise appearance of some that did not get the invitation,” Vanguard gathered that the population of those who came without the invitation was what swelled the gathering.
Level of concern
Information made available to Vanguard by a few of those in attendance indicated that the tone of the communiqué was more sober than the level of concern raised during discussions at the meeting.
One of the Generals told Vanguard: “The consolation in the meeting was that despite the colouration of politics that had been used to attempt to smear the meeting, those in attendance expressed genuine concern for the state of insecurity in the North in particular and in the country as a whole.
“You could feel the concern of members because most people kept making references to their time in the service when they thought things were very terrible not knowing that Nigeria would become worse than ever could have imagined.
“It was a good exercise at the end of the day because apart from the North, members also took time to examine the state of insecurity in the country generally and wondered how the country got to this stage.
Arming of youths for political reason was one of the points noted as being responsible for the violence in the country today because after elections, most of these armed youths go ahead to excite themselves and that is why violence continues to be on the rise.”
Vanguard also learnt that the initial insinuation that the meeting would endorse General Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, almost poured cold water on the engagement as some of those invited had to be persuaded to make the attendance.
The ACF communiqué signed by Anthony Sani said: “The well attended meeting which took place in ACF conference hall in Kaduna on March 23, 2011 gathered a number of retired military and civilian security and intelligence personnel under the chairmanship of retired Gen. M.I Wushishi.
“In reviewing the general security situation in the country, the round table, while appreciating the various efforts by the security and intelligence agencies in addressing the myriad of security challenges facing the nation, it nevertheless concluded that a lot needs to be done.
Security challenges
“Some of the security challenges which include the ethno_religious violence in Jos, Plateau State; the Boko Haram in Borno and Bauchi States and spate of political assassinations, kidnapping, terrorist bombing and hostage takings for ransom need to be more vigorously addressed with a view to finding lasting solution.
“In this regard, the ACF security round table expressed its resolve to review in greater depth this phenomenon and the efforts by government at all levels; by community, religious and political leaders, as well as by civil societies and NGO in the North, to ensure security of lives and property in the region.
The round table further encouraged such approaches in other parts of the country by calling on them to create similar forum for the purpose of making their own contribution towards assisting security and law enforcement agencies.”
The communiqué is expected to be passed on to the Presidency as an advisory on the way forward in handling some of the security challenges confronting the nation.
Pambegua attack
In Pambegua, the Police and what is believed to be an extortionist gang, fought leaving at least one of the gangsters dead, with 30 cooling their heels in Police cells.
The Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Aminu Lawan, said the gang had launched a surprise attack on the Pampegua Police Station with machete and fire arms ostensibly to free eight of their members arrested by the police for various criminal activities in the town.
Lawan said the police had received several complaints from the area about activities of the gang, who he said, extort all kinds of fees from traders on market days to later escape to their rugged mountainous hideout.
He said: “However, the police pursued and arrested about eight people who had been taken to Pambegua Police Station a few days back. The ones that escaped returned and mobilized their members and attacked the police station demanding for the release their members.
They used machetes, and locally made guns against the police at the station but were overcome and additional 22 members were arrested.”
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