On -the-recent-alleged-unusual-migration-movements-of-young-individuals-from-northern-nigeria-to-the-southern-parts-a-serious-cause-for-security-concern-that-requires-urgent-attention-and-public-awareness
September 7, 2020 | News
ON THE RECENT ALLEGED UNUSUAL MIGRATION/MOVEMENTS OF YOUNG INDIVIDUALS FROM NORTHERN NIGERIA TO THE SOUTHERN PARTS – A SERIOUS CAUSE FOR SECURITY CONCERN THAT REQUIRES URGENT ATTENTION AND PUBLIC AWARENESS
With the recent observed and widely reported movements of human cargoes of mainly disheveled young men, surreptitiously packed like sardines in articulated vehicles and lorries from the Northern parts headed for the Southern parts of Nigeria, seriously calls for concern and urgent attention by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as the relevant security operatives. With reports like: “Ogun intercepts truck carrying 30 young men; Two truckloads of 120 young men intercepted at Gaken border in Cross River sent back to North; Another 189 night travelers from Katsina arrested in Abuja; Residents Panic as Truck dumps young men from Sokoto in Ondo; Enugu Government intercepts 9 buses relocating young men from North, Police intercepts 200 Lagos bound young men from Katsina; 25 men hidden on floor of trailer loaded with Cattle intercepted in Enugu”, and so many others - should be a development that ought to worry all of us, especially the relevant Government authorities.
Ordinarily, as noted by a social commentator in a short video online; “there is nothing wrong with people moving from one part of the country to another. But what is going on now leaves so many unanswered questions. Who are these people? Where are they going? If they get to these Southern states for instance, where are they going to stay? What are they going to do there? It is not like these individuals are travelling with skills, that they are going to use to contribute to the economy of the States. It is not like we have unskilled artisans who are going to take part in work and farms.”
Agreed that Nigerians are free to move to any part of the country, as it is enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, to settle and work. But the point here is that these group of persons involved in this kind of alleged movements/migration, calls for concern because it is alarming. For the simple fact that they are caught hiding in trucks and under goods, tells that their intentions and movements are suspicious. We are told that they are young men from the Northern parts of the country. But are they really Nigerians? Or are they from Nigerian neighboring countries? And if they have good intentions, then why hide under goods to be transported to their destination in the Southern Nigeria. Mind you, they are caught moving without bags or any belongings. So, who are they really going to stay with when they arrive their destinations in the Southern Nigeria? If they arrive in their destination? What jobs are they really going to do since they evidently do not have skills to be employed to work? Will they not become social miscreants and create social crises/crimes in the Southern parts of the country? Especially since they do not have legitimate means of income. The crime situation in the country is already serous as it is - ranging from armed robbery, kidnapping, militancy, snatching of cars, herdsmen killings, Boko haram insurgency, and what have you.
As also noted by the stated commentator in the short video online: “why this time? Why this particular time when there is a Federal Government imposed lockdown and restrictions of movements from one State to another? Who is funding these movements because if we look at those trucks, many of them are brand new, and some of them don’t have vehicle registration numbers? When we look at this situation critically, it calls for concern because everything does not seem to be okay with it. It is unprecedented and very unusual. And nobody is talking to Nigerians about this situation.
I have repeatedly said that we need one united Nigeria that is free from crime of all types. What I am however against is this sort of group movements of young men from one part of the country to another part, with unclear motives. Such group movements can only be tolerated in situations of war. But this is not the case at the moment. The Federal Government urgently needs to act fast to prevent this situation to become the order of the day.
While I am in support of a united Nigerian that is free from crime of any nature, but the fact still remains that these movements are suspicious in every aspect. And there is urgent need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to checkmate this unhealthy trend, especially in the face of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The Federal Government needs to direct the Law Enforcement Agencies to checkmate these group movements of people from one part of the country to the other parts of the country. It is even a slap of the face of the Federal and States Governments, as well as Security Operatives, that such massive movements of persons from the North - headed toward the South, are being observed within a supposed Government Directive of “NO INTERSTATE MOVEMENTS” to curb the spread of the Coronavirus across the country? How come we are having these group movements of so-called young men (young men) who travel from the North undetected, and only to be intercepted here in the Southern parts? How come they were able to scale through the security road blocks from the North? These, and many more are some of the questions begging for answers, which the Nigerian Federal Government of Nigeria and relevant Security Authorities will do well to explain to Nigerians and provide answers to.
Zik Gbemre.
May 18, 2020.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
With the recent observed and widely reported movements of human cargoes of mainly disheveled young men, surreptitiously packed like sardines in articulated vehicles and lorries from the Northern parts headed for the Southern parts of Nigeria, seriously calls for concern and urgent attention by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as the relevant security operatives. With reports like: “Ogun intercepts truck carrying 30 young men; Two truckloads of 120 young men intercepted at Gaken border in Cross River sent back to North; Another 189 night travelers from Katsina arrested in Abuja; Residents Panic as Truck dumps young men from Sokoto in Ondo; Enugu Government intercepts 9 buses relocating young men from North, Police intercepts 200 Lagos bound young men from Katsina; 25 men hidden on floor of trailer loaded with Cattle intercepted in Enugu”, and so many others - should be a development that ought to worry all of us, especially the relevant Government authorities.
Ordinarily, as noted by a social commentator in a short video online; “there is nothing wrong with people moving from one part of the country to another. But what is going on now leaves so many unanswered questions. Who are these people? Where are they going? If they get to these Southern states for instance, where are they going to stay? What are they going to do there? It is not like these individuals are travelling with skills, that they are going to use to contribute to the economy of the States. It is not like we have unskilled artisans who are going to take part in work and farms.”
Agreed that Nigerians are free to move to any part of the country, as it is enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, to settle and work. But the point here is that these group of persons involved in this kind of alleged movements/migration, calls for concern because it is alarming. For the simple fact that they are caught hiding in trucks and under goods, tells that their intentions and movements are suspicious. We are told that they are young men from the Northern parts of the country. But are they really Nigerians? Or are they from Nigerian neighboring countries? And if they have good intentions, then why hide under goods to be transported to their destination in the Southern Nigeria. Mind you, they are caught moving without bags or any belongings. So, who are they really going to stay with when they arrive their destinations in the Southern Nigeria? If they arrive in their destination? What jobs are they really going to do since they evidently do not have skills to be employed to work? Will they not become social miscreants and create social crises/crimes in the Southern parts of the country? Especially since they do not have legitimate means of income. The crime situation in the country is already serous as it is - ranging from armed robbery, kidnapping, militancy, snatching of cars, herdsmen killings, Boko haram insurgency, and what have you.
As also noted by the stated commentator in the short video online: “why this time? Why this particular time when there is a Federal Government imposed lockdown and restrictions of movements from one State to another? Who is funding these movements because if we look at those trucks, many of them are brand new, and some of them don’t have vehicle registration numbers? When we look at this situation critically, it calls for concern because everything does not seem to be okay with it. It is unprecedented and very unusual. And nobody is talking to Nigerians about this situation.
I have repeatedly said that we need one united Nigeria that is free from crime of all types. What I am however against is this sort of group movements of young men from one part of the country to another part, with unclear motives. Such group movements can only be tolerated in situations of war. But this is not the case at the moment. The Federal Government urgently needs to act fast to prevent this situation to become the order of the day.
While I am in support of a united Nigerian that is free from crime of any nature, but the fact still remains that these movements are suspicious in every aspect. And there is urgent need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to checkmate this unhealthy trend, especially in the face of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The Federal Government needs to direct the Law Enforcement Agencies to checkmate these group movements of people from one part of the country to the other parts of the country. It is even a slap of the face of the Federal and States Governments, as well as Security Operatives, that such massive movements of persons from the North - headed toward the South, are being observed within a supposed Government Directive of “NO INTERSTATE MOVEMENTS” to curb the spread of the Coronavirus across the country? How come we are having these group movements of so-called young men (young men) who travel from the North undetected, and only to be intercepted here in the Southern parts? How come they were able to scale through the security road blocks from the North? These, and many more are some of the questions begging for answers, which the Nigerian Federal Government of Nigeria and relevant Security Authorities will do well to explain to Nigerians and provide answers to.
Zik Gbemre.
May 18, 2020.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes