The Nigerian Diaspora Movement (NDM) has urged the Federal Government to overhaul the nation’s security apparatus with a view to addressing the security challenges in the country.
This is contained in a communiqué jointly signed by the Chairman of NDM, Prof. Apollos Nwauwa, Director of Publicity, Mr Kazeem Ojoye, and the Secretary-General, Femi Alofe on Saturday in Abuja.
The Movement comprises 20 million Nigerians in the Diaspora working closely together to build a progressive nation where every citizen is empowered to become and give the best.
The Movement also expressed concern that hoodlums hijacked the #ENDSARS protests, which led to the death of some protesters, while others sustained injuries.
They said though, the protests were against brutality and nefarious activities of a special unit of the Nigerian Police known as the Special Ant robbery Squad (SARS), it was hijacked.
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The Movement said the protests were mostly peaceful, adding that it was a pointer to youths’ dream of a better future in their country.
“Government disbandment of SARS should bring about reform of the policing system holistically, because a lot still needs to be done, including national rethink and re-engineering.
“We commend the courage of the government to disband SARS, but further call for national and transparent inquiry into all acts of brutality by the police and to bring guilty officers to book.
“NDM calls on the government to ensure that victims of the shootings and other police brutality are adequately compensated.
“Finally, NDM calls on government to improve the welfare of the police, including accommodation, salaries and allowances, investigate diversion of funds and bring corrupt officers to book..”
According to them, the youth coming together across ethnic and religious lines to express their grievances can be positively harnessed.
They identified youth unemployment, corruption and lack of accountability in governance processes to be major issues that should also be tackled as a way forward.
The movement urged politicians to always avoid acts capable of undermining interest and wellbeing of the youth for any selfish political gains in order to achieve meaningful growth.
NAN
