APC appeals to Nigerians to support military against terrorism

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness Campaign Group, has urged Nigerians to support the military in the fight against security challenges in the country.

Alhaji Ismail Ahmed, one of the leaders of the group said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

He, however, said that the fear that gripped the nation has been receding while confidence was being renewed by the operations of the military.

This, he said, was especially so as security agencies were chasing criminals and taking the battle to the bandits.

He added that gunmen, kidnappers and other criminal elements that had held the country by the jugular and turned Nigeria to a killing field were also being dealt with by the military.

“From the South East to the South South up to the North East and North West, bandits, insurgents, kidnappers and other criminal elements were being given bloodied noses,” he said.

He said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was squarely addressing issues of insecurity, infrastructure and building the economy.

Ahmed added that the recent positive stories had brought some sense of hope to Nigerians which could not be misplaced.

He also added that not even the most virulent critics of the administration could pretend otherwise anymore.

Ahmed said that Buhari was physically present in Lagos to commission the Lagos – Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail.

This, he said, was a further attestation to the commitment of the present administration to reinvigorate the rail transportation system which had been in comatose for decades.

“Combined with the earlier commissioned Itakpe -Warri rail line, the Abuja to Kaduna rail and the about to commence rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri rail and Kaduna to Kano Standard Gauge Rail.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that Buhari has achieved what many thought were impossible.

“The one day visit to Lagos also witnessed the launch of multi billion naira security equipment by the President under the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Strategy code named Deep Blue,” he said.

Ahmed expressed optimism that this would secure the country’s maritime domain and the entire Gulf of Guinea which had been troubled by pirates and other criminal elements.

“Terrorists in the North East are also feeling the heat as the military continue to decimate them.

“We commend our gallant security personnel and call on Nigerians to support the armed forces for the war against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and all crimes to succeed in the country,” he said.

Ahmed said that things were looking up again across the Nigerian landscape, especially in the past few weeks following success stories recorded.

He said with the waterways safe for business, the Nigerian economy would be the better for it.

“Under this government, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, which hitherto operated at a loss, has also moved from a loss of N14.6million in 2014 to N14.3billion profit in 2018.

“Its turnover had improved from N17.8billion in 2014 to N61.4billion in 2018.

“The aviation sector is not left out of the good news that many Nigerians have been savoring lately, with a new wave of private and public sector investments in the sector.

“United Nigeria Airlines debuted earlier in 2021, with Value Jet, Green Africa, Calyx Air and others set to commence operations in the coming months,” Ahmed said.

This, he said, was in addition to those inaugurated in the last three years.

He added that the launch of new aircraft into the market would create the much needed jobs and economic opportunities for Nigerians.

“A booming aviation industry is a testimony to an economy on an upward swing,” he said. (NAN)