The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, yesterday, told the Federal Government and National Assembly to accept their failure to secure lives and property across the country.

Rising from their meeting held in Abuja, the forum lamented “the impunity of Fulani terrorists and their foreign collaborators wrecking genocidal attacks on indigenous communities across the nation and particularly in the Middle Belt region as happening currently in Benue State.”

The communiqué was signed by Oba Oladipo Olaitan (Afenifere), Dr. Bitrus Pogu (Middle Belt Forum), Senator John Azuta-Mbata (Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide) and Ambassador Godknows Igali (PANDEF).

It reads: “The Federal Government and particularly the National Assembly must now accept their failure to provide the most fundamental security of life and property across the country whilst we witness the impunity of Fulani terrorists and their foreign collaborators wrecking genocidal attacks on indigenous communities across the nation and particularly in the Middle Belt region as happening currently in Benue State.

“For the umpteenth time, SMBLF calls on the President and the National Assembly to rise to their constitutional responsibility and duty to protect life and property of Nigerians.”

The forum, in its proposal, said: “The Nigerian federation should ensure enhanced autonomy of the federating states such that each state shall have its own independent Police Command with complimentary Divisions at the Local Government and community levels.

“That all police officers from the rank of a Chief Superintendent and below should be deployed within their state of origin.”

It, however, faulted “the planned National Forest Guards as an additional Federal Security structure in the states and demand that all security institutions or formations apart from the armed forces, police, civil defence and the State Security Services should be part of the security architecture of the states, more so as lands and forests are the exclusive constitutional prerogative of the federating states.”

It said: “The SMBLF condemns the rituals of fire-brigade deployment of members of the armed forces to troubled areas spread across the country as ineffective and puts unnecessary pressures on the military from its constitutional roles of defending the nation’s territorial integrity.

“That pending full-fledged restructuring towards true federalism, governments of the states of the federation should take immediate measures to provide security for their people like the Amotekun South West Security Network with the full complement of weapons to face and deter insurgency and terrorism.

“The Federal Government should immediately liberate occupied communities by terrorist herdsmen and put an end to the shameful policy of creating IDP Camps for indigenous peoples while their communities are taken over by invaders including foreign nationals.

“The President and the National Assembly should treat these issues with the utmost urgency it deserves such that Nigeria as a sovereign state shall be saved the unenviable image of a banana and prospective failed State.

“These proposals should be the minimum as the alternative to calling out the people to take their destinies in their hands and procure instruments of self-defence from wherever possible if this carnage persists.”

On emergency rule in Rivers State, the forum “reiterates that the state of emergency declared in Rivers State is illegal and of no utilitarian value in a democratic state and calls that it be immediately terminated particularly because of the irreversible damaging effects it portends for our democratic journey and welfare of the people generally.

“SMBLF considers any appointment into state agencies and Local Governments or attempts to conduct elections by the military Administrator as illegal and that Rivers State be returned to normal democratic dispensation without further delay.”

“The National Assembly should uphold their oversight responsibilities with dignity and without compromise.

“Attempts by the Sole Administrator to impose his choices on the constitutional structures of the State must not be tolerated as such actions will be perceived as prejudicing amicable resolutions and prematurely ambushing democratic freedom of citizens of the State.”

On RUGA, the forum said it rejects “unequivocally the re-introduction of RUGA or howsoever described to discriminatingly acquire land in states for private businesses as being now illegally proposed for Plateau State.”

“It is an invitation to occupation of indigenous people’s lands for nomadic Fulani herd’s families in Nigeria and beyond”, it added. (Vanguard)