Former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Seriake Dickson, has called on President Bola Tinubu to seek President Donald Trump’s help to eliminate killer herdsmen, terrorists, and bandits terrorising innocent civilians in Nigeria. In a statement on Thursday, Mr Dickson, who represents Bayelsa West in the Senate, decried the endless killing of innocent people by jihadist terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, ISIS affiliates, and al-Qaeda, advocating collaborative solutions to address the menace.
The former governor argued that the failure of successive Nigerian governments to decisively prevent, arrest, or punish perpetrators created room for several conspiracy theories, including state complicity under the late President Buhari’s administration. He recalled that this concern was once raised by General T. Y. Danjuma, a former Chief of Army Staff and Minister of Defence, in reaction to the slaughter and killings in his home state of Taraba, noting that the late President Buhari’s policy of appointing mostly Muslims to head all security services further worsened these perceptions.
Mr Dickson was candid about the nation’s security capabilities, stating: “As Nigerians, we must be honest with ourselves that the killings have gone on for too long and government and security forces have been overwhelmed. We need help! No nation can confront terrorism in isolation.” He therefore made a strong recommendation: “It is on the strength of the foregoing that I strongly recommend that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should collaborate with President Donald Trump, the U.S. government, and other allies and friends of Nigeria to flush out these marauding terrorists.”
The Senator said that the widespread violent killings are an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and should not be tolerated any further, seeing Mr Trump’s recent statement as a “wake-up call to action.” He added: “If the Nigerian government is unable to address this issue effectively, then it must collaborate with those who can help us flush out these terrorists.” While emphasising respect for Nigeria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, he fully “supports any collaborative action aimed at eradicating the murderous bands of terrorists who have wantonly slaughtered thousands of our countrymen and women — Christians, Muslims, and people of other faiths alike.”
Mr Dickson’s statement came after Mr Trump re-designated Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’ and threatened to invade the country over alleged Christian genocide. The lawmaker noted that the Senate has consistently drawn attention to reports of killings and attacks, paid countless tributes, and recently directed its leadership to interface with the President to dispatch a non-partisan team of experts and statesmen to Washington D.C. for dialogue.
