By Tejiri Ebikeme/Francis Sadhere
Delta State Coordinator, Delta Strategic Team, Mr. Felix A. Datuowei has lauded the request by President Goodluck Jonathan for the extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Bornu and Yobe States, saying there was no alternative to emergency rule in the affected states.
President Jonathan in a recent letter to the National Assembly had sought the approval of the lawmakers for an extension of the emergency rule for the third time, saying that the security challenges that necessitated the proclamation are yet to abate.
Mr. Datuowei in an interview in Warri, Delta State, gave President Jonathan a pat on the back over his request for extension of the emergency rule, saying insecurity remains a major threat in the North East States of the country.
“They want to do everything through Boko Haram to undermine the President. Boko Haram is so complex to handle, but Boko Haram will come and go. The request for the extension of the emergency rule by the President is a welcome development because as it is now, there is no alternative to the emergency rule in the three affected states,” he said.
Delta Strategic team is a political movement aimed at promoting democratic values by giving support to credible candidates, especially those in PDP.
According to Datuowei, Boko Haram insurgency was a ploy by some unscrupulous politicians who did not see anything good in President Jonathan and they were using the insurgency to undermine the achievements of President Jonathan.
He said: “Like I said before, there are people who are ready to do anything to undermine his strategies because of the coming elections. They want to see more bloodshed in the North East part of Nigeria so that they can say that he has no capacity to rule the country. So we need to show more understanding in this matter. There is no alternative to emergency rule and I subscribe to it. Boko Haram does not follow the rule of engagement because this is not a conventional war. This is a gorilla war. They are ready to die in the process of killing others. Even America with its sophistication has not been able to fight insurgencies in some parts of the world.”
He stressed that government can only fight the insurgents through the enforcement of emergency rule, noting that without emergency rule the insurgents will go about killing innocent people indiscriminately without any resistance from the Nigerian Army.
“There is no alternative to emergency rule because if you say there should not be emergency rule, then you are saying that the soldiers should sit down and fold their arms and watch while Boko Haram kill innocent citizens indiscriminately. But with emergency rule certain actions could be taken and there is room for discretion. But if there is no emergency rule more people will continue to die,” he added.
