A Peoples Democratic Party former National Vice Chairman (South), Chief Emmanuel Ogidi, has advised the federal and state governments to intensify efforts to address the insecurity and economic challenges in the country.
Ogidi decried the prevailing level of killing, kidnapping and other crimes in the country were indications that more actions were required.
He made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
He said, “We have not done enough to tackle insecurity. If we have done enough, we would have reduced it.
“There is no country in the world without crime but the truth of the matter is that we have not done enough.”
He also encouraged citizens not to give up in supporting government efforts to address insecurity in the country.
“My beloved Nigeria is a great country. We should change our narrative. We cannot give up. Government should encourage us not surrender. It is government responsibility to ensure that we don’t give up,” he said.
Speaking on the recent killing of 16 soldiers in Okuama Community in Delta, Ogidi described it as brutal, evil, wicked and condemnable, saying nothing could justify killing of security personnel.
Ogidi, who believed that one killing did not justify the other, called for proper investigation into the matter and to ensure that such did not repeat itself in any part of the country.
He advised government and the army to ensure suspected to be involved in the act were not extra judiciously killed but be investigated and prosecuted upon their arrest.
“They need to be interrogated because we need to interrogate this killing.
“The killing of personnel of our armed forces, police, paramilitary is one too many. Government should take this advice seriously and not to escalate it, rather we should mitigate it.
“Such occurrence should not be allowed in the future. We have to prevent it,” he said.
Ogidi also appealed to the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, to continue to do whatever it takes to ameliorate the suffering of the people in the affected communities.
Ogidi, said the affected communities should give the needed support for proper investigation of the incident, and urged that nobody should be coax during the investigation process.
“When a man is terrified, he can say what he doesn’t want to say.
“If we really want to get the truth, we don’t have to terrify anybody. People should be allowed to speak their mind. From there you can get the truth of the matter,” he told NAN.
He advised PDP members to remain faithful, expressing confidence that PDP would soon overcome its present challenges.
“Very soon we will have our National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and we are going to start the processes of getting ready for the next convention.
“It is unfortunately that we almost got it in the last two elections but other forces raised. As part men, my advice is that we should be patient and focused.
“The leadership is working hard behind the scene to make sure we come back with full force to win future elections,” he said.
Ogidi expressed confidence that PDP would win Edo and Ondo forthcoming governorships elections.
He urged all members of the party, especially the aspirants in the Edo governorship primary election to work together for the victory of the party.
He advised aggrieved members in the state to follow internal mechanism to address their grievances, saying the party would work to reunite all hurt members.
NAN
