Service Chiefs: It’s counterproductive, dangerous ethnicising national security – APC cautions

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Sequel to the appointment of new Service Chiefs yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressive Congress (APC) yesterday cautioned that ethnicising national security issues would be counterproductive and dangerous for the country.
In a statement issued yesterday by the National Secretary of the Caretaker /Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the APC, Sen. John J. Akpan Udoedeghe, the party expressed concern over the recent events in the country in which ethnis group is criminalised instead of criminals.
APC, in the statement commended the decision of the President Buhari to appoint the new service chiefs, just as it expressed confidence that the new appointees will consolidate on what it described as remarkable achievements of their predecessors in keeping the country safe and peaceful.
The statement said “The All Progressives Congress (APC) welcomes the appointment of new service chiefs following the resignation and retirement of the outgoing service chiefs.
“We are confident that the new service chiefs will consolidate on the remarkable achievements of their predecessors in keeping the country safe and peaceful.
“The party calls for public support for the new service chiefs as they perform their constitutional roles of protecting our country’s territorial integrity and tackle emerging security threats. We also urge increased synergy among the armed forces in achieving these tasks.
“Recent incidents in the country has triggered quite divisive rhetoric in some quarters. It is counterproductive and dangerous to national security when we put ethnic spins to issues affecting us. In tackling security threats, we should criminalise crime, not ethnicity.”
APC said as a nation, Nigeria’s strength remains in her diversity, assuring that the party would continue to forge unity in that diversity, urging peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding among Nigerians, irrespective of the part of the country we chose to live and work.