General Mohammadu Buhari has descended heavily on members of the Boko
\nHaram sect, calling them evil and inhuman over the last bomb blast carried
\nout by the extremist group that killed about 72 people in Nyanya, a suburb
\nin Abuja.<\/p>\n
Buhari, in a knock on the group noted in an article sent to
\nPointblanknews.com that regardless of party and religious affiliations,
\nNigerians must stand together to fight terrorism in the country.<\/p>\n
“The perpetrators may look like human beings. They may have limbs and
\nfaces like the rest of us but they are not like us. In killing innocent
\npeople, they have become inhuman.”<\/p>\n
In the article titled: NYANYA BOMBLAST AND THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM IN
\nNIGERIA, the former military dictator said the government should adopt a
\nwiser and practicable strategy in arresting the menace of the sect.<\/p>\n
Below is the Article:<\/p>\n
NYANYA BOMBLAST AND THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM IN
\nNIGERIA
\nSinister terror and hatred have again reached from the shadows to steal
\nthe lives of innocent Nigerians. In Nyanya, seventy-two people were
\nkilled by a car bomb. Hundreds more were injured in the devastation.
\nTheir killings served no purpose except for those who exalt in evil. The
\nbomb blast quickly came and went like the deadly thief it was; but we
\nshall be left to endure the pain and loss from this terrible act for a
\nlong time to come.
\nWhat the nation lost is irreplaceable. The number 72 seems like just
\nanother grim tally among the death statistics that have become all too
\ncommon. But what occurred is much more than that. We must really stop and
\ntake notice of where evil is attempting to drive us to. The abduction of
\nover one hundred school girls is unacceptable, condemnable and saddens me
\ngreatly.
\nWe cannot allow these merchants of death to make us numb to the tragedy
\nthey manufacture. Those who were killed were not merely numbers on a
\npage. They were human beings, made of flesh and blood body and soul like
\nall the rest of us. They were someone\u2019s father or mother, brother or
\nsister. They had parents; they were someone\u2019s child. They were husbands or
\nwives, neighboring friends and colleague. They had dreams and hopes. They
\nwere loved and loved others in return. Now, life has been taken away and
\nthose who cared from them must bear a grief no person should be asked to
\ncarry.
\nThese people committed no wrong. Their only crime was to be ordinary
\nworking class people seeking to eke out a livelihood and tend for
\nthemselves and their families. For this, they were killed.<\/p>\n
They represent the backbone of the working people. Not many of them lived
\nan easy life. Most worked hard and long for modest wages. They lifted
\nthemselves up every morning to earn their daily bread. They faced the many
\nsocial and economic challenges and obstacles our society poses, yet they
\nworked not to destroy but to make this a better place by bettering the
\nlives of their family and loved ones.
\nThese people lived anonymously and died the same way. We do not yet know
\ntheir names. But, in a fundamental sense, we know who they were. They were
\npart of us. They shared the same aspirations we all do. We seek an
\nimproved fate for our children and hope to leave them a better life. We
\nwant to work and live in dignity and respect. We want a life of peace and
\nharmony with our neighbors regardless of religion, ethnicity or
\nbackground. We seek prosperity not poverty. We seek brotherly
\nunderstanding not strife. We seek peace, not bombs.
\nIt was not just 72 people who were taken in this depraved assault. Each
\nof us lost something that day. Yet, despite the loss and suffering, we
\nmust not cower in fear, and let the purveyors of death believe they have
\nscored a victory over us.
\nThose who committed this act have declared war on all that is decent and
\ngood. They have declared war not against the state or even the government.
\nThey have declared war on Nigeria and all Nigerians because this murder
\ntook men and women, old and young, Christian and Muslim alike. In trying
\nto scare, frighten and divide us, the evildoers committed injury to their
\nown cause. For they have shown us that we all suffer inhumanity in the
\nsame way.
\nNo matter our religion or place of birth, we all bleed and are wounded the
\nsame way by injustice. Decency runs through the teachings of each religion
\nand ethnic group that comprise the people of Nigeria.
\nWe may have our differences, but the vast majority of Nigerians stand
\nunited against the appalling violence committed in Nyanya and other
\nplaces.
\nThese acts have no place in Nigeria. Those who commit them have no place
\nin our country. The perpetrators may look like human beings. They may
\nhave limbs and faces like the rest of us but they are not like us. In
\nkilling innocent people, they have become inhuman. They live outside the
\nscope of humanity. Their mother is carnage and their father is cruelty.
\nThey have declared war against the people of Nigeria. They have shown that
\nthey do not want to liberate the people. They want to kill them. Yet, with
\nall the energy of their evil and ignorant hatred, they shall fail. The
\ngood people of Nigeria shall triumph.
\nSuch a wicked mission shall not succeed. We have gone too far in our
\njourney to nationhood and endured too much to allow these terrible acts to
\ndivert us.
\nNot only have these agents of death killed innocent people, they also
\nabducted over 100 young women from their school. Why abduct school girls?
\nWhatever they plan, they should be ready to face the wrath of Nigerian
\npeople. They should release these young girls unharmed. Anything else
\nwould be an abominable crime.
\nWe all must take close heed at this moment and recognize the severity of
\nwhat is upon us. A small minority seeks to bring the nation to its knees
\nthrough terror. Thus, we must stand tall and united. We can ill afford to
\nallow their crimes to go unpublished united.
\nI call on the government to improve and redefine its strategy in the light
\nof this expanding menace. Clearly, its intelligence gathering needs to be
\nimproved so that it can break terrorist plots before they hatch.
\nMoreover, it needs to enact greater social and economic reform in the
\nblighted areas of the nation to win the hearts and minds of the people.
\nGive the youth a viable alternative and they will not be duped by the lure
\nof extremist dogma. A major initiative with immediate and long-term
\nstrategies for mass employment should be introduced right away.
\nNigeria must and will overcome this scourge but it cannot do so merely by
\nwishful thinking. We need wise and decisive strategy.
\nAs for me and my party, we deplore and condemn these and all such attacks.
\nThose who commit them must know that the nation stands four square against
\nthem.
\nWhile we are engaged in tight political competition against the ruling
\nparty, we shall not play politics on this issue so vital to our national
\nsurvival and wellbeing.
\nWe pledge ourselves to the unity and safety of this nation and shall do
\nnothing to undermine national security. We seek no political advantage
\nfrom this calamity and wish the present administration success in fighting
\nit.
\nWe stand ready to help in any meaningful and productive way to fight this
\nbattle against evil. We extend our hand and earnest offer of cooperation
\nin this regard.
\nNigeria and Nigerians have suffered enough. Those who now lead the nation
\nand those who would lead her must overlook political differences to find
\nwhatever ways we can cooperate to make this a safer, more secure nation
\nfor all.
\nThank you and May God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
\nKaduna, April 20th, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
General Mohammadu Buhari has descended heavily on members of the Boko Haram sect, calling them evil and inhuman over the last bomb blast carried out by the extremist group that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n