Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said everybody should be blamed for the activities of the dreaded members of the Boko Haram sect.
Abubakar, who was reacting to the killings of schoolchildren by members of the sect in Yobe State, stated that instead of looking for solutions, many Nigerians were trading blames on the issue.
The former Vice-President said in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, that as a grandfather, he was sad about the killing of innocent children.
He said, “Boko Haram continues to leave a trail of blood and tears in its wake. In the early hours of Tuesday, February 25, barely six months after a similar attack, a band of murderers invaded the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, wielding explosives, guns and machetes, slaughtering more than 40 boys in cold blood.
“As a father and grandfather, I am deeply saddened, not just by the latest murders, but by every single life that has been lost to the activities of these murderers. Every life lost is one life too many.
“It then occurred to me that as a country, we are not doing enough about focusing on and implementing solutions.
“We are all guilty of expending endless energy on trading of blames, none of which is able to save lives or change the status quo.”
Abubakar, however, said there was the need to encourage the use of local militia to curb the activities of the sect.
He said the military and the government must make use of members of the “Civilian Joint Task Force” in the affected areas.
Abubakar said, “When the President, in his most recent media chat, spoke about the government’s successes at pushing Boko Haram to the ‘fringes’ of the North East, it immediately occurred to me that some of the credit for that should go to the ‘civilian JTF’ — the band of youths in and around Maiduguri who have taken it upon themselves to act as a vigilante force to fight Boko Haram.
He said, “I acknowledge that the talk of a government-backed civilian militia is a controversial matter, but I do not think that should stop us from debating and seriously considering the matter, including it in our list of possible measures.
“No doubt, the military is operating in very unfamiliar terrain, and needs all the local support it can get. There’s a lot that both parties — the military and the civilian JTF — can gain from collaborating.”
He hinged his suggestion on what he said was done in January 2012, at the American University of Nigeria, which he founded.
Copyright PUNCH.
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