28th April, 2012
As more reactions continue to trail Thursday’s attack on ThisDay and other media houses in Abuja and Kaduna by Boko Haram, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Dr Lateef Adegbite has also condemned the act.
Adegbite who is the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Public Awareness on Security and Civic Responsibility, called on Nigerians to stir up resistance against the Boko Haram Sect.
Adegbite made the call Friday at a news conference held in Abeokuta, Ogun state, southwest Nigeria.
He described the attack on the media as a dangerous signal to intimidate the press and called for a stiff opposition against such act.
He expressed concern that there is a faceless cabal using the sect as a front, adding that Nigerians needed to be vigilant and united in exposing them.
He noted that the sophisticated weapons and the organised manner they carry out their operations meant that members of the group were neither ordinary people nor novices.
According to him,‘’Nigerians must not be cowed, despondent or surrender to the intimidating tendencies of these unscrupulous elements who have continued to inflict suffering upon innocent Nigerians.
‘’Once we become despondent, our strong lines will be weakened,discouragement will set in and that will be the end to the struggle.”
He also called on Nigerians not to lose confidence in the ability of the Federal Government to handle the situation.
He therefore called on well-meaning Nigerians to be on the alert and report any suspicious moves to
the relevant authorities in order to foil their plans before it was hatched.
While noting that the government had been taking steps to arrest the situation, Adegbite opined that the existing efforts must be strengthened.
He said that the authorities needed to employ all machinery at their disposal to wage war against the sect in order to renew the hope of Nigerians in government’s ability to protect them.
By Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta