A former presidential aide, Akin Osuntokun, has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari over his comments on those he says are politicising the issue of insecurity in the country.
President Buhari, while receiving the National Executives of the Buhari Campaign Organisation at the State House on Tuesday, had said he was confident that his administration uses all the resources at its disposal to protect the lives of all Nigerians and not just prominent Nigerians.
He, however, stated that those who politicize the isolated incidents of insecurity are not patriotic Nigerians.
Reacting to the comments, Osuntokun who was a guest on Channels TV’s Politics Today, said, “what do you mean by politicising? who is politicising it?”.
“That is his (President Buhari’s) own interpretation according to his own convenience. In any case, if people are commenting on issues, how does that amount to politicisation?
“What of those people who are victims? This type of casual detachment to people is getting out of hand. When he (President Buhari) was attacked some years ago, did people not talk? Did people not raise issues then? Should people not have talked now? Now you want people to be quiet,” he added.
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His comments come on the heels of the murder of Funke Olakunrin, a daughter of Afenifere’s National Leader, Reuben Fasoranti.
She was shot and killed on Friday by suspected herdsmen while traveling along the Benin-Ore Expressway – a situation that has sparked outrage from different groups across the country.
Many have called for tougher measures to be put in place to secure the nation while also asking that the perpetrators must be brought to justice.
One of those making such calls is former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who in an open letter to President Buhari, said the killings (which many say have become one too many), can no longer be ignored or treated with nonchalance.
The former president, however, admitted that the menace requires a joint effort to be tackled as the president cannot do it alone.
Immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan also called on the government to set up a separate agency that will handle the security challenges facing Nigeria.
