20100719
allafrica

Abuja — As the abduction and release of four journalists and their driver continues to generate controversy, opposition political parties under the aegis of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) have called for a security summit to discuss the rising cases of kidnapping, armed robbery and other related crimes in the country.

The opposition political parties congratulated the released journalists - Wahab Oba, Slyva Okereke, Adolphus Okonkwo and Shola Oyeyipo - their driver - Azeez Abdulrauf - and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).

In a statement by CNPP's National Publicity Secretary Osita Okechukwu, they said: "The national summit on security is imperative (as) a cursory glance shows clearly that armed robbery, Boko Haram, kidnapping and other variants of insecurity are ravaging the nooks and crannies of the country and there seems to be no light at the end of the insecure tunnel; as (neither) the good intentions of President Goodluck Jonathan nor the empty threats of the Inspector General of Police, talk less of the bogus call for state of emergency by the Senate President, presents any reprieve."

In justifying the security summit, CNPP lamented the gross incapacity and failure of the Nigerian state to uphold neither the security of the people nor the welfare of the citizenry as stipulated in Section 14 (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

According to the statement, "The general insecurity in the country confirms the truism that the Nigerian state has failed woefully to provide neither security nor welfare to the citizenry.

Over the years, we have seen huge security votes squandered on the altar of corruption, seemingly good security projects poorly executed and good intentions sidetracked by ignorance."

They said the concern over the kidnapped journalists was because the victims were high profile journalists as at different times many Nigerians were held hostage by felons mutating out of gross unemployment in the land.

"Information reaching us alleges that N30 million ransom was paid for the release of the kidnapped journalists, the irreducible minimum last demanded by the kidnappers, as evidenced by the non-violent nature of the release, for no gunshot was fired, nobody was injured nor any kidnapper arrested, contrary to the claims of President Goodluck Jonathan," CNPP said.

Accordingly, the opposition political parties pledged its solidarity to the NUJ in these trying times and challenged President Jonathan to convoke a national summit on security immediately.