A spokesperson for the Akwa Ibom Elders Vanguard, Senator Anietie Okon, has said the shoot-at-sight order by President Mohammadu Buhari, to security agencies is not enough.
Okon, a former Publicity and Organising Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party said what was needed was expressed instruction to wipe out banditry from the country.
Okon, a Third Republic Senator, stated these while speaking to journalists on Sunday in Uyo the Akwa-Ibom State capital.
He berated the way the Buhari-led administration was handling bandits and insurgents in some parts of the north, describing it as unsatisfactory.
“The federal government declared war in Igbo land; why can’t the same federal government deploy same military aircraft and might to crush the insurgents and bandits kidnapping women and children daily in Zamfara, Kaduna and other parts of the North for huge ransoms?
“This shows that the Buhari-led administration is treating the bandits with kid gloves. Buhari’s shoot-at-sight order is not enough. What is needed from the President is full permission to wipe out banditry and other forms of criminality from the county.
“I have since stopped recognizing the present government as a government. It has further divided the country by jettisoning federal character considerations and competence in areas of appointment for parochial tribal and clannish considerations. This has further cracked the fragile unity we have achieved earlier in the country. We must work collectively to bring the country back from the brink of disaster.”
Speaking on the recent meeting in Uyo involving elders and stakeholders from Eket and Uyo senatorial districts on the future of the state, Senator Okon said it was a solidarity visit by Eket elders to Uyo to thank them for supporting the governor and also pledge to support Uyo senatorial district to produce a governor in 2023.