HURIWA TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI: BE DECISIVE AND FIGHT TERRORISTS, STOP MOURNING

Leading Civil Rights Advocacy Group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to stay in Nigeria, stop globetrotting so as to put out effective law based strategies to crush armed terrorists in the North of Nigeria.

Describing the frequent belated reactions and verbal condemnation of the serial terror attacks against civilian targets by President Muhammadu Buhari as intolerable distractions, HURIWA said the Constitution which makes the elected President the Commander-In-Chief has clearly made it legally obligatory and mandatory that the President is actually the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces and not the ‘CHIEF MOURNER’ of Nigeria.

The Rights group which condemns the delay by the Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Alhaji Abubakar Malami to issue the mandatory federal Gazette declaring the armed Fulani militia in the North West as terrorists in line with with the unambiguous and direct pronouncement of the Federal High Court, Abuja division, HURIWA said it defies human logic that the same Justice Minister took less than a minute to declare the unarmed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) a terrorist group soon after the then Chief Judge of the Federal High Court granted a late evening Ex parte order mandating the Federal government to so declare. “We wonder what is keeping the Federal government from releasing the mandate by way of a legal Gazette so the Armed forces can adequately respond to the unprecedented violence unleashed on Nigerians by the North West based Fulani armed bandits. Because of this deliberate delay in going after these terrorists, over 200 innocent citizens have been wasted including the over three dozen Christians killed in Southern Kaduna State at the Weekend”.

Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko the National Coordinator in a statement reminded President Muhammadu Buhari of his Constitutional authority and mandate to deal decisively with terrorists thus: “The main primary duties and responsibilities of the President is the protection of lives and properties of the citizens as contained in Sec 14 (1) of the 1999 constitution as amended.

The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, exercising his constitutional authority through the Ministry of Defence.

The roles of a country’s armed forces are entrenched in her Constitution. The defence of the territorial integrity and other core interests of the nation form the major substance of such roles. Section 217-220 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria addresses the Nigerian Armed Forces:

(1) There shall be an armed forces for the Federation which shall consist of an army, a navy, an air force, and such other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly.

(2) The Federation shall, subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of –

(a) defending Nigeria from external aggression;

(b) maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea, or air;

(c) Suppress insurrection and act in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

(d) Perform such other functions as may be prescribed by an act of the National Assembly.

(3) The composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria.

duties and functions of Nigerian Army Being the most important and largest component of NAF, NA takes all the responsibilities for operations in land conflicts. In other words, the Nigerian Army takes the main responsibility for the security of each citizen ,the army is big enough to offer protection to the land, nation and the country from any organized enemy. Defeating the country from enemies is one of the top duties of the Nigerian Army, and it has been like this since the creation of this body.

Since the Nigerian Armed Forces have contemporary weapons, officers and soldiers who are professionally trained, and a new program for the twenty-first century, it is great when you understand the most important duties of the Nigerian Army according to the constitution;

To maintain the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

To defend country from external aggression.

To protect the country’s borders.

To restore order if needed and in cases of insurrection.

To perform any other duties mentioned in the National Assembly’s Act or as directed by the President

It is true that NA is fully governed by NAC (this abbreviation stands for the Nigerian Army Council), and its main functions, as well as duties, are described in the Constitution. However, while obeying to every task set by NAC, the army which has to do everything to protect the people and country’s integrity in the first place often has to perform other functions that go beyond its primary duties.

Here are some of the functions of our army:

To guard areas of high importance.

To offer some emergency services

To gain professional skills required for performing the moral duties.

To make sure that the equipment of the army and all the establishments are up-to-date and in a good working condition.

To coordinate the enforcement of immigration laws and customs.

To perform basic defensive operations

As you can see, the duties of Nigerian Armed Forces have the moral aspect and obligation to follow the Constitution while functions refer more to everyday tasks performed by soldiers.

moral duties and real functions.

HURIWA is therefore urging President Muhammadu Buhari to spare Nigerians of his monotonous and periodic mourning statements from his media minders but instead should go after terrorists of all dimensions not minding their ethnic or religious affiliations because terrorists are common enemies who must never be patronised.