…Urges security agencies to be civil in approach
A political activist and former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Thursday,
condemned reports of harassment of citizens by some military officers
and other security agents enforcing the lockdown directive of the
Federal Government.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in a nationwide broadcast ordered a
stay-at-home for residents of Lagos, Ogun and the FCT in a bid to
contain the spread of the COVID-19.
Frank, in a statement in Abuja, described any form of harassment against
Nigerians at the present moment as one suffering too many.
He urged the agents of the military, police and other security agencies
enforcing the present lockdown across the country to be civil in their
approach in order not to unduly increase the burden of hunger already
being borne by poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
He noted that the reported cases of assault against Nigerians on
essential duties like Journalists, Doctors and telecomunication staff in
Lagos and Abuja have no place in a civilized setting like Nigeria.
He noted that it amounted to an aberration of grave proportion in the
first place to deploy military personnel into the streets to enforce a
stay-at-home order.
The Bayelsa-born political activist, insisted that apart from workers on
essential duties duly exempted by the President in his broadcast, there
are countless Nigerians that might need urgent medical attention in the
affected areas.
“The military should have deployed their energy to defeat Boko Haram,
bandits and all other criminal tendencies in the North-east in
particular and Nigeria in general whose sole reason for being on the
streets is to secure their daily bread.
“It should be noted that poverty is ravaging the land and the saying
that ‘an hungry man is an angry man’ might apply if there is no modicum
of civility in handling the situation by the military and other security
agencies.
“If the government actually wants the people to stay at home, amenities
like stable electricity, water and other necessary palliatives must be
provided.
“Even as poor as Rwanda is, President Paul Kagame has been able to
provide enough comfort for the citizens to enable them stay at home
without any resort to the use of force.
“Why can’t the Federal Government make citizens comfortable for once?”
Frank, however appealed to citizens to strictly abide by the
stay-at-home order in other to speed up the containment of the deadly
virus.
“Let’s take the inconveniences of the moment as worthy sacrifices to
safeguard our lives and effectively contain the spread of the dreaded
Coronavirus pandemic,” Frank said.
He called for more sensitization of the populace to the dangers of
COVID-19 and
prayed for a quick end to the dire global challenge.