Adewole Adebayo, presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has alleged that collusion between some government officials and bandits is contributing to the persistence of insecurity in Nigeria.
Speaking during an interview with the NAN on Sunday, Adebayo said insecurity had become widespread across the nation.
The SDP candidate alleged that some government officials and criminal elements are working in concert while presenting a different picture to Nigerians.
“When government and bandits are now stage-playing and deceiving the public, that is what has kept it (insecurity),” he said.
He said the situation had also created opportunities for the misuse of public funds, particularly where money allocated for security could be presented as payments for ransom or emergency operations.
“That is why the budget for defence is going higher, higher and higher, and the soldiers are getting poorer and poorer,” the SDP candidate said.
“It is only through insecurity that a governor can steal N500 million without question because he will say, ‘I used it to pay kidnappers.”
He added that the government must establish control over every part of the country and ensure that criminal groups cannot operate freely.
Adebayo said if elected president in 2027, he would take decisive action against terrorism, insecurity and illegal mining.
He said his government would reclaim territories controlled by terrorists and criminal elements while dismantling the economic networks that sustain them.
“In our government, for the first time, the government and the people will go against the terrorists,” he said.
The SDP presidential candidate said tackling insecurity should extend beyond military operations to the economic interests that, according to him, benefit from criminal activity.
He linked insecurity to illegal mining in mineral-rich areas, including locations where gold, tantalite and lithium are found.
“Anywhere you see minerals, gold, tantalite, or lithium, you will see insecurity there,” he said.
Adebayo alleged that criminal networks use insecurity to facilitate illegal mining and allow foreign-linked operators to extract mineral resources without making appropriate payments to the government.
He said the government should also investigate those benefiting from insecurity.
“Who is tolerating it? Who is benefiting from it?” he asked.
Adebayo said his approach would combine military operations, policing, economic development and accountable governance.
He also identified the protection of farming communities as part of the country’s security strategy, saying insecurity had disrupted economic activities and food production.
The SDP candidate said restoring security would enable farmers to return to their fields, improve food supply and create economic opportunities.
“Agriculture is God’s gift. It’s only sheer blindness and wickedness that can make a people who are so soiled to be hungry,” he said.
Adebayo said the government had sufficient knowledge of the locations where terrorists and other criminals operate and should use that knowledge to take action.
He said solving Nigeria’s security problems required leadership capable of bringing together the country’s military, police and economic resources.
“The solution to our problems is more than the number of our problems. But you need leadership to harness everything together,” Adebayo said.
COURTESY: TheCable
