Youths from the South-South geographical zone of the country have dared the leadership of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, to carry out its threat on President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration.
The dreaded sect had last week threatened to bring down Jonathan and his 11-month-old government within three months, the same period which the president had predicted the collapse of Boko Haram.
Leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, had said in response to the president’s declaration two weeks ago in South Korea that the Boko Haram phenomenon would be over by the middle of this year, that Jonathan’s comment was offensive.
Shekau boasted in a 14-minute recorded video session, (the second in recent times) posted on the internet on April 12, 2012, that the present administration would not stay in office to see to the end of the sect.
But youths from Rivers, Delta, Cross River, Bayelsa, Edo and Akwa-Ibom states condemned the threat by the group, describing it as “empty and an exercise in futility.”
The youths, under the aegis of South-South Leaders Forum (SSLF) and Association of Ethnic Nationalities in Niger Delta (AENND) viewed the action of the sect as treasonable and a total disrespect for President Jonathan and the corporate image of Nigeria.
The statement signed by Barrister Amachree Odiedim, chairman, SSLF and Comrade Mike Udofia, co-ordinator, AENND, said the deliberate silence of the northern leaders and elite on the threat was suspect and showed them as accomplices of the sect.
According to the youths, “We shall vehemently and violently resist any attempt to harm Mr. President or ridicule his regime.”
Also accusing security operatives in the country of handling the Boko Haram issue with kid’s gloves, they declared that for the continued peace and unity of Nigeria.
The South-South youths demanded that the Inspector General of Police declare the leaders of the dreaded sect wanted and set machinery in motion towards arresting and prosecuting them, as well as those already in detention.
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