A former deputy director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has urged the federal government to suspend campaigns for the 2027 election and address insecurity in the country.
Amachree said this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“I would suggest to the president [Bola Tinubu] that he can suspend all his electioneering campaigns and everything, and let’s face the security issue and get rid of it. But of course, the president has to have that political will we’re talking about to do this,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of the show.
Amachree spoke amid heightened insecurity across parts of the country. A Sunday attack at Gako community in the Riyom Local Government Area of the State of Plateau led to the killing of a pastor and three members of his immediate family.
Reverend Ayuba Choji, his wife Chundung Ayuba, and their two children, Cyril and Endurance Ayuba, were reportedly killed when the attackers invaded the village around 11 p.m. and shot indiscriminately.
Reacting to the renewed wave of attacks, the former DSS director said that while these incidents happen, political actors are preoccupied with electing themselves into office.
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He claimed that insurgency has persisted in Nigeria for more than 18 years because it is being financed by certain persons in the country.
“Even when Jonathan was saying that, ‘Look, we have insurgent supporters in my government,’ people thought that he was just making political statements, but those statements are very correct.
“And right now, even worse than before, there are elements in Nigeria who are financing, supporting and, in fact, dealing with these insurgents or even gaining from the criminal economy that insurgency has provided – a multi-billion naira economy,” he added.
According to Amachree, several powerful people are benefiting from insecurity. He said the government needs “political will” to “deal with this”.
“And then of course you will ask why the government is not dealing with it when they know these kinds of people. There are some people who are in government or outside government, very powerful individuals [involved in it].
“I know for sure, like in Zamfara, retired major generals who are involved in that situation, but you need the political will to deal with this,” Amachree said.