*Says Plateau, Zamfara, Niger attacks expose deepening security crisis
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has rejected the explanation offered by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, over federal government’s claim that more than ₦600 billion was distributed to over 10 million vulnerable Nigerians through the conditional cash transfer programme.
HURIWA, in a statement by the National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said it considered the explanation that most of the alleged beneficiaries did not own mobile phones, watch television or use social media as inadequate and incapable of resolving the fundamental questions surrounding the reported expenditure.
The national coordinator of the rights group said the APC chairman could not substitute a political explanation for documentary evidence.
According to the group, ”The central issue is not whether poor Nigerians have access to smartphones or social media. The central issue is simple: Where are the records showing that more than 10 million households actually received the reported ₦600 billion?”
HURIWA, therefore, demanded that the federal government publish a comprehensive and independently verifiable breakdown of the programme, including the number of beneficiaries in each state and local government, the criteria used for their selection, the amounts paid, dates of payment and the channels through which the funds were transferred.
It further said the association was particularly concerned by the conflicting accounts emerging from different parts of the country.
”While officials in some states have confirmed beneficiaries of various cash-transfer programmes, investigations have also produced accounts from states where residents and even some government officials said they could not identify beneficiaries or establish clear records of the reported payments.
”This contradiction cannot simply be wished away,” Onwubiko stressed.
Plateau, Zamfara, Niger Attacks Expose Deepening Security Crisis
In another development, HURIWA, has said the latest wave of killings, attacks and mass abductions reported in Plateau, Zamfara and Niger States, has further exposed the grave security challenges confronting millions of Nigerians and the urgent need for a more effective national security response.
HURIWA further said it was deeply disturbed that innocent citizens continue to lose their lives in their communities despite repeated assurances from government that measures were being taken to contain terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
The rights group said the latest incidents demonstrated that Nigeria could not afford a security strategy based principally on statements, condemnations and promises after attacks have already occurred.
It said government must move decisively from reactive responses to preventive security operations capable of identifying threats before they mature into massacres and mass abductions.
In another statement by Onwubiko, it said the reported killing of at least 54 residents of Zikke village in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State was another tragic reminder of the vulnerability of rural communities in parts of the country.