The All Progressives Congress (APC) has demanded that Information Minister, Labaran Maku, be relieved of his new assignment as the Supervising Minister of Defence, because he is an interested party in the spiralling crisis ravaging Nasarawa State, where the Federal Government has ordered the deployment of troops to help end the violence.
In a statement in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that Maku is of the Eggon ethnic stock, to which the Ombatse cult/militia group behind the Nasarawa crisis has been linked, has made his new role as the Supervising Minister of Defence untenable.
It said even if the Minister has no sympathy for the rampaging Ombatse, whatever action he takes in his new capacity – as far as the Nasarawa violence is concerned – will be open to misinterpretation and allegation of bias, which can in turn aggravate the crisis.
”This is why we believe that the most prudent thing to do is for President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately take the Defence Ministry portfolio from Mr. Maku. This is in line with international best practice,” APC said.
The party said the Minister himself has not helped matters by the comments he made in an interview he granted the BBC on Thursday, in which he insinuated that the State Government had not initiated dialogue with stakeholders as a way of ending the crisis, and in which he tried to downplay the critical role that the State Government has played in curtailing the activities of the Ombatse cult/ethnic militia that has been engaged in senseless killings and plundering in the state.
”In both instances, the Minister has been economical with the truth. In the first instance, Minister Maku was invited to several meetings in the wake of the Ombatse attacks on Assakio and Agyaragu last year and the Alakyo massacre of security agents this year. He neither attended nor sent his apologies despite the invitations extended to him to be part of the meetings with traditional rulers, national and state legislators, as well as political and public office holders at federal and state levels, among others.
”At the instance of the State Government, several meetings have also been held with Eggon leaders and the Eggon Cultural and Development Association (ECDA), to no avail. It is therefore blatantly wrong for the Minister, or anyone for that matter, to say the State Government has not initiated dialogue as a means of resolving the crisis.
”Also, the State Governor has been briefing the President, on a regular basis, over the crisis. He has requested for the deployment to the state of a Mobile Police Squadron as well as troops. While the requests were granted, the deployments are just about being carried out, yet Minister Maku gave an erroneous impression concerning the role of the State Government in curtailing the crisis.
”Thirdly, the State Government has compiled and sent to the Federal Government the names and addresses of the suspected leaders and major players in Ombatse, the perpetrator of the violence. The State Government has also instituted a judicial commission of inquiry into the violence, while assisting the victims of the violence state-wide.
It is therefore an act of blatant mischief to try to belittle the role of the State Government in ending the needless crisis,” APC said
The party said the fact that the Minister and indeed any prominent Eggon citizen has yet to condemn Ombatse’s endless attacks on innocent citizens as well as security operatives is enough evidence of where their sympathy lies.
