PAN Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and South-West socio-political organisation, Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, have said it has become necessary for the federal Government to accept the position of President Donald Trump, who has offered to attack the terrorists in Nigeria to stop genocide and other forms of killings in the country.

Both organisations, in separate interactions with The Guardian over the renewed and increased spate of terrorist attacks, kidnap of students and other vices following the threat by Trump, said the aim of the deadly organisations and their sponsors is clear and understandable: to use the various people and especially children being kidnapped as shields should the United States go ahead with its plan to attack terrorist dens in Nigeria.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, President of Yoruba Ronu, Akin Malaolu, said, “We are worried over the daily attacks and abductions in daring styles on soft targets and each attack looking very similar to others. We must confess that these patterns are getting clearer, and it calls for deep thinking at a time when we are caught in threat warnings from President Trump.

“It is instructive to note that in the history of war against terrorists, human shields are usually their pattern of avoiding deaths and airstrikes, and such human shields are harvested from schools and communities. We do not think that ransoms are the motive, but to prevent aerial bombings by lawful agents, whether from internal or external sources.

“We are, therefore, compelled to alert everyone to put words across to their governments to see the need to declare closure of schools nationwide, so that more of these children are not abducted, raped and murdered.”

He added that terrorists often believe that America would come after them.

“President Trump may not be stopped by any resolution from the American Congress, from what is emerging, and the major religious terror groups operating in Nigeria, including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the al-Qaeda-linked Ansaru, are informed about their imminent bombing raids by America.”

The forum, therefore, urged the government to be proactive and take decisive steps to ensure that the kidnapping of innocent people is stopped.

Similarly, the spokesman of PANDEF, Ominimini Obiuwvbi, urged the Nigerian government to stop playing politics with the statement on genocide against Christians made by Trump, but to come to terms with the fact that people, including children, are being killed daily by the terrorist organisations.

According to him, Tinubu must not only embrace Trump, but he also needs to seek, if possible, the assistance of more foreign countries to address the situation, since it has become obvious that the Nigerian government can no longer address the situation.

Wondering why the attacks have been renewed since Trump spoke, PANDEF said, “In a situation where military Generals are killed, police officers are helpless and other security agents are confused, the Nigerian government must embrace foreign assistance.”

He also said it is needful for Nigeria to seek foreign help to trace the sponsors of the various terrorist organisations and to also trace how they are being funded.

PANDEF lamented that people were clamped in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across the country without knowing when to return home, yet the Nigerian government was pretending as if it could address the insurgency alone, where it had obviously failed.

“If the country could seek foreign aid, what is wrong with embracing President Trump’s determination to help address the escalating insurgency? We urge the government to cooperate with the American government,” it added. (The Guardian)

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