A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Haruna Yerima, has lamented that over two weeks after the Kuje Prison terrorist attack that freed over 879 prisoners, including 68 Boko Haram insurgents, no offical was suspended or sacked.
Professor Yerima represented Biu, Shani, Bayo, Kwaya/Kusar and Shani Federal Constituency of Borno State at the House oF Representatives between 2003 and 2007.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the academic said the apparent inaction by President Muhammadu Buhari over the daring terrorist attack in Abuja “portends bad omen to our security ecosystem.”
Professor Yerima said,”It has been two weeks now after the deadly attack on the Abuja prison facility. Aside lamentations and condemnation from public officials, there is no suspension, sack of any relevant official involved in securing the facility and the general security area.”
He said this lack of proactive measures from the federal government is capable of creating a fertile ground for the inherent gestation of another deadly incident by the insurgents.
“The Kuje Correctional Centre attack is sacrilegious in the sense that the terrorists have brutally violated the security sanctrum of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The scene of the attack is less than 40 kilometers from the Presidential Villa. It is less than nine kilometres to the city’s only airport. It is literally a running distance from many security facilities.
“For the fact that the terrorists, in their hundreds, executed that operation seamlessly means that something is significantly wrong with our security and intelligence architecture. That is the reason why some people must be held to account for this unprecedented breach,” he said.
The don said sanctioning erring officials would serve as a deterrent to others. “There must be consequences for this callous negligence,” he said.
The Ahmadu Bello University professor said the terrorists have tested the ground with the deadly attack on the Abuja- Kaduna train four months ago.
“They have killed, wounded and kidnapped passengers with very little resistance in Kaduna. Four months later, they upped their ante by conducting a gestapo assault on the Kuje Prison in Abuja.
“If we allow the ugly incident to pass as usual, it’ll be a testiomony that the terrorists are winning. And nobody will predict their next target,” he said.
On July 5, Boko Haram fighters attacked Kuje Prison in Abuja, freeing 879 inmates, including terrorists in its custody.
The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) said 443 of the fleeing inmates have been recaptured, 551 were still at large; while four inmates and one Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) official were killed.
