The chief of the military staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, has disclosed that more than half of the country’s borders in the north-east and north-west are unprotected, this sparked concern and was regarded by the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere as terrifying and worrisome.
Africa Daily News, New York recalls that Irabor had disclosed that 137 of the country’s 261 borders in the north-east and north-west were unsecured, indicating that these open borders were responsible for the ease with which terrorists from neighboring nations entered Nigeria.
The organization bemoaned the government’s failure to address what the army chief deemed to be ‘a key source of criminality and violent crimes in those areas of the country’ just under a year after President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration began.
This was noted by the Afenifere in a release that was made accessible to media by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Jare Ajayi, in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
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In his speech on this year’s Democracy Day, on June 12, Buhari expressed shock concerning “the rise of insecurity” and stated that his administration is “working hard to contain and address these challenges.” Ajayi noted these statements made by Mr. President
He further said that: “Taken Buhari’s declaration and that of Irabor, one finds it difficult not to wonder what the administration has been doing in the past seven years to contain and address security challenges in the country.
“What have the security agencies been doing about the vast unmanned borders and what has the government been doing for insecurity not to keep rising as its years in the saddle increase?”
Crediting a statement made by Irabor that “the Armed Forces are working round the clock to implement several new strategies that will bring about an end to various security challenges in Nigeria,” As time is running out, Afenifere encouraged the administration and the security establishment to work harder to curb the widespread of insecurity.
Consequently, Ajayi ended by urging the government to use technology and a sizable portion of youths to guard the said open borders.
Additionally, it asked the federal government to permit states to set up state police, saying: ‘Doing so would reduce unemployment and enhance security in the country. As a lasting solution to Nigeria’s myriad of problems, the government should set in motion the machinery for restructuring.’
The revelation made by the chief of defense staff had sparked worry amongst people, noting that if the borders are unprotected it simply means that citizens of the country are unsafe as terrorists have express access into the country through the border.
