May 15, 2013
The National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has disclosed that President Jonathan took the last option of declaring a State of Emergency in three Northern Nigeria states yesterday because the terrorists were planning to declare a state of their own.
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Speaking to journalists in Abuja today, he called on the 36 states of the federation to join the war against terrorism in order to make the State of Emergency work effectively.
The PDP chieftain said that although Borno, Yobe and Adamawa would principally feel the heat of the State of Emergency, all the states in the country must begin to guard their boarders, as a proactive measure for limiting the scope and space for the operations of terrorists.
Tukur, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, said no sacrifice should be considered as being too much in the efforts aimed at containing terrorism in the country, a reason he said the PDP has been at the forefront of the campaign against the menace in the country.
He said all states must proactively guard their boarders so as to contain expected spill overs from those states where terrorists would be flushed out.
“Before now, I have been campaigning against terrorism which I described as evil,” he said. “I said the fight against the evil must involve everyone and not security personnel alone.
“If our security men are fighting terrorists in Yobe, the neighbouring states should not fold arms. We all need to be more vigilant and active such that if terrorists escape from one state, they would have no breathing space in any area they may decide to invade with the aim of re-grouping.”
He said that President Jonathan took the last option of declaring a State of Emergency because the terrorist were becoming more daring.
“They were even planning to declare a state of their own and these happened because many of us believed that the menace of terrorism has been a problem for the north alone.”
