ABUJA: Northern advocacy group, the Rebuild Arewa Initiative for Development RAID has urged President Bola Tinubu to initiate a policy that would see to the sack of security chiefs in any part of the country where violent attacks and criminal activities persist beyond one week.
The group insisted that continued insecurity across several states has become a national embarrassment that demands urgent accountability within the nation’s security architecture.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, President of he group, Ambassador Abba Sheriff Modu and the organization’s Director of Communications and Publicity, Comrade Bitako Abubakar Umar said the call was part of the group’s firm position against what it described as “leadership failure and weak institutional response” to the worsening insecurity in Nigeria.
They lamented that despite huge government investments in security, many communities across the North remain under siege, with citizens of all faiths living in fear of terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers.
Umar who read the text of the group’s address, said the time had come for the Federal Government to enforce consequences for poor performance among security agencies.
He stated that heads of security formations in areas repeatedly ravaged by attacks should be relieved of their duties if they fail to restore normalcy within seven days.
“Any criminality perpetrated in an area that lasts for more than a week should automatically lead to the removal of the security heads responsible for that area.
“Nigeria cannot continue to lose innocent lives while those in charge of protection remain comfortable in their offices. Accountability must return to the security system”, he said.
The group described as “false and divisive”, the genocide allegations by United States president, Donald Trump and some U.S. lawmakers.
It also dismissed the claims as misleading and damaging to Nigeria’s image.
Umar described Trump’s assertion that Christians in Nigeria were victims of genocide as a reckless distortion of facts, stressing that both Muslims and Christians have suffered equally from the violence driven by poverty, terrorism and the collapse of governance structures.
He said the reality in Nigeria does not fit the definition of genocide, arguing that the crisis is instead a product of insecurity, corruption and institutional decay.
According to him, “bandits and terrorists do not ask for religion before they kill or kidnap; they attack anyone they can exploit.”
He added that singling out one faith as the exclusive victim of violence was not only inaccurate but also deeply insulting to every Nigerian family affected by the ongoing bloodshed.
The group said it was regrettable that a world figure like Trump, whose country claims to champion truth and justice, would make such a serious allegation without credible evidence.
It warned that such rhetoric could deepen divisions in Nigeria and inflame tensions between religious communities that have lived together peacefully for generations.
The group called on northern elders, political leaders, traditional institutions and religious authorities to reject what it described as foreign propaganda aimed at distorting Nigeria’s internal realities.
It urged them to unite in demanding stronger governance and better protection for citizens instead of allowing foreign voices to define Nigeria’s challenges.
Umar emphasized that Nigeria’s crisis was not religious but systemic, rooted in the failure of leadership and the absence of strong deterrent laws.
As part of its wider recommendations, RAID also demanded the enactment of laws prescribing severe punishments, including public execution or life imprisonment, for individuals or groups involved in killings and mass violence.
The group further called for the public prosecution and lifetime imprisonment of corrupt officials, alongside full recovery of stolen funds.
Umar announced that RAID would, in the coming days, convene an interactive session bringing together religious leaders and civil society organizations to forge a common northern position on the issue.
“Nigeria is not a nation of genocide. It is a nation betrayed by corruption, insecurity and weak institutions. If the government begins by holding security chiefs accountable and protecting all citizens equally, peace and development will return to our land”, he stated.