By Linus Aleke
A group operating under the aegis of the Southern Zone and Middle Belt Alliance for Peace has cautioned against the continued illegal appropriation of mineral resources in the country.
The warning is not unconnected with the illegal mining activities in parts of the country, which unofficial sources say are linked to the funding of terrorism and banditry.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the National Chairman of the group, Dr. Okolie Amaechi Sadiq, also decried the current insecurity and instability in the country.
He said, “We are motivated to address a press conference on the current insecurity and instability in Nigeria. Decades of banditry, kidnapping, land grabbing, sacking of communities, destruction of means of livelihood, infelicitous and illegal appropriation of mineral resources, etc., have continued to generate mistrust and insecurity in the country. This has lasted for so long, but it need not be so.
“We believe in a project Nigeria for all. We believe in equity. We believe in the peaceful coexistence of all. We believe in the fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. And we believe that with peace and stability, Nigeria can achieve its manifest potentials. We believe that Nigeria can indeed become the pride of Africa.”
The group further called on the federal government to urgently take legal and radical steps to put an immediate stop to insecurity and various forms of insurgency perpetrated by misguided gun-wielding non-state actors in Nigeria.
According to him, “The phenomenon of non-state actors seizing parts of the sovereign state of Nigeria should be put to a stop. Our president, governors, and traditional rulers, town union leaders, as well as different security agencies in the country, must rise up to their fundamental responsibility of protecting the lives of Nigerian citizens.
“We suspect that violent and criminal non-state actors do not act without the support of highly placed and influential Nigerians, home and abroad. It is conventionally assumed that illegal traffickers of dangerous weapons work together with these violent and insurgent non-state actors.”
Appealing to the international community and leaders of good will to hasten to support Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and other emerging security threats, Okolie stated that acts of insecurity, destabilization, and insurgency always spread to areas where they did not originate from.
