South-East youths warn Buratai over state of emergency comment

Last updated: 2020/09/23 at 8:12 PM

starconnect Published 23 September 2020

Buratai on fire over emergency comment in South east

Chief of Army staff (COAS), Major-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai

Emeuwa Francis l Wednesday, Sept 23, 2020

ABA, Abia, Nigeria – Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders (COASYL), has chided Nigeria’s Chief of Army staff (COAS), Major-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai over his comments threatening to declare a state of emergency in the South-East geopolitical zone.

The group said it viewed the army chief’s comment as a coup d’etat on the nation’s democracy as he had no power to declare a state of emergency on any part of the country as an appointee of government.

It noted that the constitution was clear on what it takes to make such declaration and those with the authority to do so and reasons that will lead to it and advised the military commander to rather pay attention to the overwhelming terrorists’ attacks and banditry in the

North-West which is a very serious national security issue. In a statement signed by the group’s president general, Hon. Goodluck Ibem and secretary general, comrade Kanice Igwe, it wondered if the continued stay of Gen. Buratai as chief of army staff was in the interest of the country as he had been unable to evolve a way to neutralize the Boko-haram terrorists and bandits killing innocent Nigerians including soldiers and civilians on daily basis.

It wondered why Buratai decided to single out the South-East as his scape goat and leaving the Northern states of Borno, Adamawa, Katsina, Kaduna, and Zamfara, where no day passes without attacks on civilian settlements even as he was piloting the granting of amnesty to arrested terrorists.

The group ended by warning that any attempt by the army chief or any of his cohorts to malign the South-East, would be viewed as usurpation of power and treated as such, noting that the blood of Igbo youths being massacred by amphibious military operations in the name of Python Dance has brought to the fore his disdain for Ndigbo and urged him to refrain from such divisive comments in the interest of the unity of the nation.