The UK Parliament has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari government’s actions indicate support for incessant terrorists and bandits’ attacks targeted at individuals and communities.
The development came weeks after Mr Buhari publicly expressed support for Isa Pantami, his communications minister who grabbed headlines after his violent preaching and support for Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other extremist groups surfaced online.
Mr Buhari had justified Mr Pantami’s dangerous views as coming from a position of ignorance, even though the minister was in his mid-30s and early 40s when he made the remarks.
The president asked the minister to continue in his position, claiming without evidence that Mr Pantami had eschewed his past views and romance with terrorism.
The lawmakers sent a protest letter to Dominic Raab, UK foreign secretary, on July 26.
The members of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the parliament, who wrote the letter included Caroline Cox, Rowan Williams and David Alton. Mervyn Thomas of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Ayo Adedoyin of Peace & Social Justice (PSJ-UK) also signed the letter.
Citing the shooting down of the Nigerian Air Force fighter jet by bandits, they expressed worry that the country was now under the control of non-state actors unleashing terror at will, particularly in the North-East and North-West.
Earlier this month, intense gunfire from bandits caused the aircraft returning to base from a mission on the Zamfara-Kaduna border to crash.
“Nigerian citizens are currently at the mercy of non-state actors who have been allowed to evolve and now have the capacity to shoot down a fighter jet, as has recently occurred in Kaduna,” said the letter.
Source: Peoples Gazette
