TheCable

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged plans by some politicians to blackmail the military.

In a statement on Tuesday, the group called for the investigation of some politicians in Kogi state over alleged attempt to disrupt the coming elections.

In a petition signed by 15 leaders of the group, the CUPP urged the president to use his constitutional powers to ensure that politicians whose actions are geared towards making the political space conducive for terrorists to thrive are arrested and brought to book.

The CUPP leaders said, as a major opposition voice since its formation in 2018, the coalition has been consistent in advocating for free, fair and credible election.

“It is not difficult to see through the shenanigans of disgruntled politicians hellbent on compromising the security of the state prior to the coming election in order to give free reigns to terror and thuggery,” the group said.

“What they are after is to get the navy special forces disbanded so as to enable them unleash their gangs of bandits on Kogi state and its environs or use them as political thugs during the coming elections in order to compromise the election and force themselves on the people of the state at gunpoint. The government must never succumb to such a blackmail.

“Mr. President, we are aware of the considerable sacrifices being made on a daily basis by the officers and men of the Nigerian armed forces to confront terrorists, kidnappers and bandits who have been making life impossible for Nigerians for some time now. Your good self narrowly missed being a victim of the nefarious onslaughts of these criminals when you visited Kogi State recently. We know that it was a politically motivated attack to score political points by heartless politicians who don’t mind shedding blood simply for the purposes of political blackmail.

“Many state governments, as a measure of support for the efforts being made at the federal level, have also initiated homegrown security measures in collaboration with the police, the armed forces and sister security agencies with the fundamental purpose of defeating insecurity and criminalities. In states where these measures are yielding results as being witnessed in Kogi state and a few others, the criminals are being decimated to the discomfort of those sponsoring insecurity in our country.”

The group also asked the president to take prompt action against any plan to disrupt the forthcoming election.