Fresh Abuja Terror Alert: All Political Parties Told To Suspend Mass Rallies

A Former Minister of External Affairs, Bolaji Akinyemi has urged all political parties to stop mass rallies across the country over the impeding terror attack warning by the United States (US).

CityNews recalls that the US and the United Kingdom (UK) recently issued travel advisories warning to their citizens living in the country that there might be attacks in some parts of Nigeria especially in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

The US state department had on Wednesday announced the evacuation of “non-emergency” employees and their family members.

However, security personnels in the country have told Nigerians to remain calm as they are already working towards combating the situation.

Sharing his thoughts on the situation in a chat with ARISE TV, Akinyemi opined that the right thing for political parties to do would be to balance rights with responsibility and help the security agencies focus solely on protecting Nigeria.

He said, “These are inconvenient times for Nigeria because it is election time and campaigns have started. All these one-million-man marches and the like are soft targets for terrorists.

“We should stop talking about rights when there is an existential danger to the republic. The national security adviser, after getting clearance from the president, should read the riot act to these politicians.

“I am not interested in your rights to assemble if you are presenting a soft target to [terrorists]. The Americans have warned you about what is about to happen and you are insisting it is your right to have all these one-million-man marches and so on. It is the question of balancing rights with responsibility.”

The former minister warned political parties not to create a situation that would frustrate security forces in their bid to combat the terror attacks.