Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Thursday, July 9, 2015 insurgent attacks by Boko Haram have become worse since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office on Friday, May 29, 2015.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Ekweremadu said it is regrettable that the insurgents, who had almost been defeated by the Goodluck Jonathan administration have resurfaced with doubled zeal, expressing fear that the terrorists might attack Abuja and the southern part of the country in a no to distant time.
He said: “I am worried about the resurgence of Boko Haram activities in Nigeria. Shortly before the inauguration of the present government, the country had almost rolled back Boko Haram and its activities in every part of Nigeria – from Adamawa to Borno to Yobe.
“I was hoping that when we come back in the 8th Assembly, that I will work with our colleagues from the North-East to develop a plan of action that will help to rehabilitate that part of Nigeria. I feel so concerned about the suffering of our people from the North-East of Nigeria.
“I had hoped that by now we would be tasking ourselves on how best to rebuild that part of Nigeria. Regrettably the actions of Boko Haram seem to have resurfaced now; not only in Borno, they have carried out their activities also in Plateau, they have gone to Adamawa and Kaduna.
“I am worried that if nothing is done, the next target would be Abuja. Maybe they will start going to the South. It is important for us as those in government, whether executive or legislature, to come together to find solutions to these problems.
“We must be on the same page on this matter. I believe that it is time for us to have meetings with the executive as well as the security agencies in order to find out exactly what has happened – why the resurgence of these Boko Haram activities and what we can do as a people to ensure that this matter is dealt with decisively.
“We believe our President would sit on top of this situation because we believe that Nigerians are worried about this situation and they would like to see an end to Boko Haram activities.
“We would like to do everything to encourage our President, to support him and bring this situation to an end so that we would be able to have peace within this area – the North-East of Nigeria and indeed all parts of Nigeria.
“Whatever has caused this insurgence, we need to address it and aggressively too before it gets too late. I am very worried about the situation. I do hope that we would be able to work together to find solution to this and come to the end of this Boko Haram activities.
“It is not giving us any good image, it is damaging our reputation all over the world, it is damaging our lives, and it is damaging our properties. It has disoriented our brothers and sisters in the North-East.
“The education sector has suffered there, even the economy of the place has suffered so much, and our brothers and sisters from other part of the country that lived there have since left the place. It is a big challenge we must all come together to deal with.
“I will like to assure our friends and the international community that the challenge, though enormous, is not beyond our control,” he said.
