Senate President Godswill Akpabio says the worsening insecurity in the country is an orchestrated attempt to undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
Akpabio spoke on Wednesday during a plenary session on
national security.
He said the attacks should not be interpreted as persecution
against any religious group.
“This is orchestrated, this is organised, and this is meant to damage the image of democracy. And all these things started with just a tweet from President Trump,” he said.
He added that some persons are now calling for foreign
involvement in Nigeria’s internal affairs.
“People are trying to justify or call on the American
president to come here and attack people,” he said.
“You know very well that there is nothing like targeted
Muslims or targeted Christians. The bullets that are being sprayed will not
distinguish who is a Muslim and who is a Christian.”
Akpabio said all criminal elements must be treated as a
common threat, regardless of who they target.
“If we have miscreants who are going after Christians, then
we go after them. We have miscreants who are killing Muslims, we go after
them,” he said.
The presiding officer added that Nigeria’s religious
diversity must not be weaponised.
“Nigeria is a multifaceted religious country. We cannot come
here and try to say, oh, one group is being attacked, the other group is not
being attacked,” he said.
“What we are seeing here is an attack on all religions. It’s
an attack on all citizens of the country. It’s an attack on the democracy of
our country. It’s an attack on Nigerian citizens. It’s an attack on Nigerian
government.”
The senate president called on lawmakers to unite in
confronting the menace.
“So we must rise up to the occasion, debate and point out
the reality. Let the world know that we want to be safe,” he said.
He said the legislature will continue to recommend solutions
to the executive.
“These are things we must bring out and forward to the
executive, so they can join us to fight these people,” he said.
On Wednesday, the senate commenced moves to classify
kidnapping as a terrorism offence under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act,
proposing the death penalty for perpetrators.
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