President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to crush the indigenous peoples of Biafra (IPOB) secessionists pushing for a breakaway Biafra republic.
Speaking during a parley with the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, at the presidential villa in Abuja, he read the riot act to those clamoring for the break up of the country.
‘North not opposed to a break-up of Nigeria’
The civil war hero decried the killings and wanton destruction of properties in the troubled south east geopolitical zone of the country.
“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand. We are going to be very hard sooner than later,” the President said, while frowning at the burning down critical national assets in the south east geopolitical zone.
The President declared that rude shock awaits those behind the heinous crimes soon just as he ruled out the possibility of him seeking a third term in office after the end of his second term tenure in 2023.
“I receive daily security reports on the attacks, and it is very clear that those behind them want this administration to fail,” President Buhari said. “Insecurity in Nigeria is now mentioned all over the world. All the people who want power, whoever they are, you wonder what they really want. Whoever wants the destruction of the system will soon have the shock of their lives. We’ve given them enough time.”
President Buhari recalled that he visited all the 36 states of the country before the 2019 election, “and majority of the people believed me, and the election proved it.” He promised to continue leading the country in accordance with Constitutional provisions.
The President said the Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police have been changed, “and we will demand security from them.”
On the dangers posed to future elections by the burning of INEC facilities, President Buhari said he would give the electoral commission all it needed to operate, “so that no one would say we don’t want to go, or that we want a third term. There will be no excuse for failure. We’ll meet all INEC’s demands.”
In his briefing, Yakubu said that so far, there have been 42 cases of attacks on INEC offices nationwide, since the last General Election.
“The 42 incidents so far occurred in 14 states of the Federation for a variety of reasons….Most of the attacks happened in the last seven months, and they are unrelated to protest against previous elections. From the pattern and frequency of the most recent attacks, they appear to be targeted at future elections. The intention is to incapacitate the Commission, undermine the nation’s democracy and precipitate a national crisis,” Yakubu said.
