By George Mgbeleke<\/p>\n
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the Minister of Defence General Christopher Musa and the Minister of State for Defence Senator Bello Mattawalle to immediately withdraw from the campaign council of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and devote their full attention to their constitutional responsibilities of supervising Nigeria\u2019s counterterrorism and national security efforts.
\nHURIWA said the continued involveement of the two ministers in political campaign activities, at a time of worsening insecurity across the country, sends the wrong signal to Nigerians and raises questions about the government\u2019s priorities.
\nThe rights group in statement signed by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, expressed concern over the increasing attacks, killings and abductions in parts of the country, including the reported abduction of worshippers during Friday prayers in Niger State.
\nHURIWA strongly condemned the attack on worshippers in Dekara village and described the reported abduction of women, children and elderly people as unacceptable and a serious violation of their fundamental rights.
\nThe association is particularly concerned by reports that a video allegedly showing hundreds of abducted persons has circulated on social media.<\/p>\n
While HURIWA notes that the reported number of abducted persons and the authenticity and location of the video require official verification, the reports are grave enough to demand an urgent and coordinated response from the Federal Government.
\nHURIWA therefore calls on the Federal Government and the Niger State Government to intensify efforts to establish the whereabouts of the abducted worshippers and secure their safe release.
\nThe association also demands urgent action to rescue citizens held captive by armed groups in Borno, Niger, Kogi and other affected states.
\nGovernment Must Put Security Above Politics
\nHURIWA believes that the primary responsibility of the Defence Ministry at this critical period is to strengthen the capacity of the military and other security agencies to protect Nigerians and defeat terrorism, banditry and other forms of violent crime.
\nThe association therefore considers it inappropriate for the ministers responsible for defence to allow political campaign activities to distract from the urgent security challenges facing the nation.
\nHURIWA calls on President Tinubu to demonstrate that the protection of Nigerian lives remains a priority by directing all officials responsible for national security to concentrate on their constitutional duties.
\nThe association also urges the government to intensify efforts to protect vulnerable communities in Benue, Plateau and other states affected by recurring attacks.
\nHURIWA condemns every attack on civilians, regardless of the identity, religion or ethnic background of the victims or perpetrators.
\nThe association rejects the killing of Christians, Muslims and members of other faiths and communities and urges security agencies to investigate every attack thoroughly and bring perpetrators to justice.
\nUrgent Rescue Operation Needed
\nHURIWA demands a coordinated rescue operation for all Nigerians being held by terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.
\nThe government must also provide accurate and timely information to families of victims instead of leaving communities to depend on unverified reports and social media videos.
\nHURIWA further calls for stronger intelligence gathering, improved coordination among security agencies and greater protection for schools, places of worship and vulnerable communities.
\nThe association stresses that the fight against terrorism and kidnapping must not be politicised.
\nThe lives of Nigerians must come before electoral calculations or political interests.
\nThe Federal Government must therefore act decisively to protect citizens, rescue those in captivity and restore confidence in Nigeria\u2019s security institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the Minister of Defence General Christopher Musa and the Minister of State for Defence Senator Bello Mattawalle to immediately withdraw from the campaign council of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and devote their full attention to their constitutional responsibilities of supervising Nigeria\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17105"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17127,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17105\/revisions\/17127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}