Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to end the lingering Boko Haram crisis and other criminal activities such as the herdsmen/farmers clashes within the shortest possible time, if elected as President in 2019.
This is even as controversial politician and governorship aspirant in Borno State, Mr Grema Terrab, who is being wanted by the police for alleged murder, was Tuesday arrested by Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS) operatives at Atiku’s political meeting in Maiduguri
Atiku, who is Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential hopeful for the election, made the vow Tuesday while addressing PDP supporters in Maiduguri, Borno State.
He said: “Nigeria ended its civil war in only two and half years, despite the thick forest in the South East. I wonder why the war against insurgency took us nine years without headway, there must be something wrong somewhere.
“If elected as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I will not allow any commander to tell me stories, we must end insurgency within shortest possible time because the insurgency has crippled everything in the North East.”
He noted that Nigeria was one of the poorest nation in the world, characterized by abject poverty, which insurgency had further accentuated in the North East.
Atiku alleged that the increasing cases of criminal activities associated with herdsmen/ farmers clashes, leading to loss of lives and property, was as a result of bad governance under the present administration.
He noted that unless Nigerians teamed up and voted against the present ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, government at national, states and local government levels, the situation the country found itself would even be worse in the near future.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Gbenga Daniel, Director General, Atiku Campaign Organization, ACO, said the former Vice President and his entourage were in Maiduguri as part of the ongoing consultation tour with PDP stakeholders across the country.
He called on the people of the state to give their block votes and massive support to Atiku, who is the only person that will take them to the promised land.
In his welcome address, Borno State Coordinator of ACO, Alhaji Mohammed Imam, said there was no need to solicit for votes because, according to him, Atiku is like a son of Borno, adding that majority of people of the state were solidly behind him in 2019 elections.
He said, “You are welcome to Borno which is your second home, you need not to campaign, we the people of Borno are strongly behind your candidature,” Imam said.
Meanwhile, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, operatives arrested a governorship aspirant of the PDP in Borno State, Grema Terrab, at Atiku’s political meeting in Maiduguri over allegation of murder.
Terab was the pioneer chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, responsible for managing and taking care of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, before he was sacked by Governor Kashim Shettima due to his disloyalty to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, in the state.
Grema is being wanted by police for alleged complicity in a murder case that occurred in his home when he hosted a political meeting in April this year.
To turn himself in, the police had arrested members of his family, including his wife, who was reported to have lost her pregnancy while in detention.
Grema, who had been in exile since the incident, surprisingly showed up yesterday for the first time since his disappearance from Maiduguri.
His governorship campaign posters and bill board littered Maiduguri township ahead of the visit of Atiku.
Working on intelligence about his arrival, the SARS team and dozens of other plain clothe detectives stormed the venue and laid siege for the event to end before closing in on him.
When Atiku ended his speech and was exiting the hall, Grema quickly moved closer to the former VP probably for some kind of protection but that did not deter the officers who carefully held and whisked him away.
Journalists were prevented from taking photographs or filming his arrest as he was hurriedly bundled into one of the SARS patrol vehicles and escorted away by armed policemen.
All effort to get confirmation from the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Edet Okon, proved abortive, as his phone number was not available at press time.
