Akpabio: Escalating insecurity orchestrated to undermine Nigeria’s democracy

Senate President Godswill Akpabio says the worsening insecurity in the country is orchestrated 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 added.

On Wednesday, the senate commenced moves to classify kidnapping as a terrorism offence under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, proposing the death penalty for perpetrators.