Members of the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK organising committee have expressed their revulsion at the growing spate of insecurity in the country characterised by the recent spate of bombings in Abuja and the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Borno State.
It will be recalled that on April 15, about 234 pupils from the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, in Borno State, were abducted by terrorist group Boko Haram and whisked off into the Sambisa Forest, amid rumours that several of them have been married off to some of the fighters.
So far, at least 181 of the girls are still said to be missing despite a desperate and spirited search for them by their parents in the remote forest.
The Centenary Group noted that the kidnapping happened just a few days after a ghastly bombing at the Nyanya motor park in the Federal Capital Territory in which about 75 people lost their lives.
Last night, a second bomb went off in Nyanya and according to official sources, the death toll is at least 12 and rising.
Horrified at the callous disregard for human life shown by the terrorists, the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK organisers have urged the government to do all it can to not only rescue the abducted girls but also to put in place safeguards to protect the lives and property of all Nigerians.
Committee secretary Jumoke Ariyo, said that 100 years after coming into being as a nation state, Nigeria should have found ways to provide basic levels of security.
Ms Ariyo added: “We are speechless at the unbelievable disregard for human lives that these terrorists have shown. How they can blow up fellow human being with absolutely no regard and with no remorse is simply beyond comprehension.
“To make matters worse, these terrorists are involved in the abduction of secondary school pupils who were sitting for their O’Level examinations. These young ladies are exactly the kind of Nigerians we are trying to motivate with the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK as they are the future leaders and heroines of tomorrow who Nigeria is dependent on to aspire to greater heights.”
Dayo Olomu, chairman of the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK programmes sub-committee, added: “Our event is about looking back at the achievements of outstanding Nigerians in the UK over the last 100 years and building upon that. Unfortunately, some individuals in our midst are hell-bent on taking us back beyond 100 years to a primordial era and are prepared to use unimaginable violence to achieve their evil aims.
“As part of our 100 years centenary celebrations, the government should make providing security for every Nigerian one of its core priorities in 2014. No one should be fearful of going about their business in any part of the country, whatever part of Nigerian they are from and whatever their religious beliefs.”
According to Ronke Udofia, the chair of the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK awards sub-committee, such callous acts will not in any way deter the strong resilient Nigerian spirit. While condemning these acts , she urges all Nigerians of goodwill to defy the terrorists and ensure they do not succeed, enjoining them to go to www.nigeriancentenaryawardsuk.com to nominate their candidates as a way of showing their resilience and protest to the acts to terrorism.
