DSS issues strict warning to Bafra agitators as Gowon pleads for unity

The DSS warned those agitating for secession to be careful - It said it will not watch the country descend into disunity - Gowon also urged youths calling for Biafra to desists The Department of State Services (DSS) has warned that any group that is threatening the security of the country will be security dealt with insisting it will not fold its hands and watch the country being torn apart. Premium Times reports that this was emphasized at the national seminar on “Unity in diversity” it organised. Former head of state, Yakubu Gowon, was the keynote speaker at the seminar where he urged security operatives to handle secessionist agitators carefully.  Laval Daura who is the director-general of the DSS warned that the unity of the country was important and the agency would not sit idly and watch it divided. He said: “I would like to restate the position of the Service that all groups or individuals who are bent on pursuing their divisive and separatist activities that threaten national security, to think again. “The security and law enforcement agencies will not sit by idly while they continue on their activities that put at risk the lives and properties of law-abiding and innocent Nigerians. We will deploy the full amalgam of the security infrastructure to deal with subsisting and emerging developments capable of endangering lives and properties as well as our corporate existence as a nation. “Globally, the security agencies form the core of institutions that give backbone to statehood. Consequently, every activity that represents an existential threat to the nation is a direct challenge to the security agencies, which must be responded to. The security sector views the unity of this nation as a sacred trust and this task we will do our utmost to meet.” Gowon commended the Arewa youths for backing down on their ultimatum to Igbos in the north and warned that those agitating for Biafra were scaring foreign investors away. He said: “This call is not in the interest of democracy which recognises the right of individuals on issues….My view is that all Nigerians and people should love their country. Rather than needlessly heat up the polity and scare international investors, agitators need to pause and ponder on the implications of a strategy of threatening the country. “We need to think of the danger our actions poses to the innocent and law abiding citizens. Agitators or whatever name they go by, need to read up history that no nation survives multiple civil wars. The life of the people is worth more than whatever profit they hope to make out of the business of hate and sheer murmuring. “Agitators are better off not pursuing personal interest just as the Federal Government will do well not to use any force on these agitators except only as the last resort for and in defence of security and the peace of the nation.” He applauded the DSS for the way it has handled the situation of the country’s unity. He said: “I want to say that the service has done exceptionally well. Your operations have made it possible over the years to nip in the bud several acts or provocations that otherwise would have led to deeper crisis in the country. Let me reiterate that Nigeria as a nation is stronger together than chip off the block. “There is unity and strength in our diversity and we should be accommodated in unity not by force but more so by reason. We must believe in the indivisibility of this country as citizens. East or west, north or south, we are one. We must believe in one Nigeria in order to make it good and better for all.” “Let me use this opportunity to advice Nigerian youths that the unity of this country must prevail above some of the hard talks and uncomplimentary remarks coming from them. “I urge the youths not to allow the situation that happened in the past to happen again. They should avoid anything that will bring the suffering of innocent people because of unnecessary demands. “Don’t forget that you are the future of this country. You must work together to ensure you build a country that all of us would like to see.” Daura noted that governance failure has played a huge role in the rise of agitation noting that if Nigeria gets governance right, other things will settle in well. “It is noteworthy that numerous well-meaning Nigerians of all religious and ethnic backgrounds have weighed-in with positive messaging to assuage the resultant anxieties of the activities of these divisive groups. “This notwithstanding, and given the high toxicity of ethnic and religious evocations, the security sector has remained sufficiently concerned with a view to evolving and developing adequate countermeasures to deal with these threats.  “The acting president has valiantly led the charge to put the naysayers to shame and to reassure Nigerians of their safety everywhere. He has also sought to reassure Nigerians of the infinite possibilities of Project Nigeria and the imperative for all Nigerians to keep faith with the nation and in the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to deliver on its socio-economic programmes.” “These governance failures have been amply implicated in the massive unemployment and very poor socio-economic conditions across the land, which feeds and spread frustrations, anger and agitations, nationwide. “There is no gainsaying the fact that if we get governance right, we will have more salutary outcomes in terms of security and other contemporary challenges.” Meanwhile, Some prominent leaders in Kogi, Benue and Rivers state strongly rejected the plan by leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, to extend his proposed Biafra Republic to their states. In Kogi, the Igala Socio-Cultural Group, has expressed extreme repugnance over their reported inclusion in Biafra. Speaking on the issue, a spokesman of the group, Barry Moses Idakwo, noted that the inclusion has made nonsense of the ancient Igala nation, Daily Trust reports.