Nyanya Bombing: ‘Condemn Boko Haram Openly,’ Afenifere Challenges Northern Elite

Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba organization, has challenged Nigeria’s northern elite to condemn Boko Haram openly.
In a statement signed by Yinka Odumakin, its National Publicity Secretary the group expressed its distress about the bomb blast on Monday in Nyanya, on the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory that left scores of people dead and several others in hospitals with severe injuries.
Expressing its condolences to the families of the dead and praying for the quick recovery of the wounded, the group described the blast as a continuation of the orgy of orchestrated violence in the Northern part of Nigeria which has been claiming huge casualties on a sustained basis.
“Afenifere is of the firm conviction that we have had enough of mere wailing and mournings,” the statement said. “This is the time to move against the spread of terror and the wasting of precious lives that has become a daily ritual in our beleaguered country.”
It stressed that Nigerians cannot continue to pretend that their security agencies do not have a faint idea of the enablers and sponsors of terror in the land.
“The president at some point hinted that the terror machine had infiltrated critical sectors of government while the Gaji Galmatiri report has also identified some elements that are linked with the gestation of the blood-letting terror group. The Federal Government owes it a duty to the peace of the country to bring to justice all those who have been linked to insurgency without further delay.
It is the absence of a nexus between crime and punishment that is setting the hearts of men to continue to wax strong in iniquity.”
Afenifere also blamed the irresponsibility of the elite for the insurgency in the country.
“We condemn the attitude that suggests that sections of the political elites in particular express covert support for Boko Haram because of the short sighted view that the reign of terror would aid their desires to get political power,” the statement continued. “Let them consult those who incubated the "original" Boko Haram for power purpose if they can sleep with two eyes closed today.”
To that end, it called for outright condemnations of Boko Haram by the Northern elites in particular rather than what it called the politically correct utterances in the ears of the sect that are heard every now and then.
It urged the government to chart a new course in the fight against terror while the whole country must rise across political divides to stop the insurgency which must be seen as a Nigerian issue before it sets a total conflagration that may consume everyone.”
Afenifere further called for the mobilization and education of the citizenry on the wave of terror in the country and to “let everyone know where to plug in as we strive to rid our country of the mind-boggling festival of bloodshed that dehumanizes us as a people.”