Following the incessant attacks on critical public facilities such as police stations and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices in the southeast, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on Monday organized a town hall meeting over the alleged activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made this known at a town hall meeting on the protection of public infrastructure in Abuja.

According to Mohammed, the destruction of public infrastructure and facilities in the South-East is not just vandalism but a form of terrorism.

Recall that the Minister had accused Twitter of conveniently ignoring inciting tweets by the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and the EndSARS protest, where government and private properties were looted and set on fire, all in the name of right to protest.

Mohammed said, “In recent times, such laudable efforts of the government are being thwarted by some unpatriotic citizens through wanton destruction of critical infrastructure, thereby depriving the greater citizenry for whose benefits these projects and services are provided from enjoying them.

“On another level are the incessant attacks on critical public facilities such as police stations and INEC offices. As a matter of fact, the destruction of public infrastructure and facilities is not just vandalism, it is a form of terrorism.

“Removal of rail tracks can cause train derailment, with deadly consequences. Tampering with aviation infrastructure endangers the lives of air passengers. Attacks on police stations have left many police personnel dead. These are all acts of terror.

“And this is why we have decided to organize a series of town hall meetings to address this incessant and worsening destruction of public infrastructure and facilities. In organizing these town hall meetings, our main objectives are to:

“Create in the public mind that government property are indeed citizens’ property and so must be protected for the benefit of all Sensitize communities, especially those where infrastructure are located, to be conscious of the import of such and protect them Expose, arrest and prosecute all those who engage in buying pilfered infrastructure items along with those who bring such to them to sell.

“And sensitize the larger citizenry to support the widespread campaign on the protection and ownership of public infrastructure/assets, especially in the Railways, Roads and Aviation sectors.” (Agency report)

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