MEND threat: NBA, others want FG to beef up security

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), and Voters Awareness Initiative (VAI), on Thursday urged the Federal Government to beef up security across the country.
Reacting to threats by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to resume its attack in the region, the groups advised the government to take proactive measures to forestall this.
In separate interviews, the groups told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that MEND should not be allowed to carry out its threats.
Mr Onyekachi Ubani, Chairman, NBA, Ikeja branch, said that the threat of renewed campaign of violence by MEND should be taken seriously by the government.
“The security agencies should take the threat seriously. Security should be beefed up, but that alone should not be the focus of the government.
“What the government should be thinking of is how to address the challenge of security in Nigeria permanently,” he said.
Ubani said the agitation by various ethnic groups in Nigeria was a wake-up call for the government to urgently convene a sovereign national conference, where such grievances could be addressed.
He said:”The only way to resolve Nigeria’s problem is to convene a sovereign national conference, where all groups, including MEND and the Boko Haram Sect, can come out and air their grievances.”