By The World Satellite.
The Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy Group; Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has said that the approval of About $1.96 billion USD Contract for the Development of the Proposed Kano – Niger Republic Rail Line by the Federal Executive Council with borrowed Chinese money is fraudulent and offends our national security interests.
HURIWA in a statement signed by the National Coordinator; Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media Affairs Director; Miss Zainab Yusuf on Thursday condemned the project as a misplacement of priority in the face of intractable problems of insecurity and harsh economic conditions arising from hikes in fuels and electricity tariff, adding that it is an invitation to further escalation of chaos and anarchy in Nigeria, which must be halted.
Revealing that it would look for means of instituting a legal challenge so “the illegal rail project is annulled forthwith”, the statement noted that the current regime of President Muhammadu Buhari has “a recurring problem of never getting its priorities right and at the end of the day; Nigerians are the ones who suffer from these poor choices by this government.
“This project is a ticking time bomb and a grave threat to National security. This is because, when completed, it will ease the influx of illegal aliens into Nigeria, which could be used to unleash mayhem and from unfolding incidents in some parts of North, many of these aliens are inclined to violence, a belief that is supported by the fact that many of them are armed.
“Recall that Vanguard Newspaper, in its December 3rd, 2016 report, quoted Kaduna State Governor; Mallam Nasir el-Rufai as saying that his government has traced some violent, aggrieved Fulani to their countries and paid them to stop the killings of Southern Kaduna natives and the destruction of their communities. Among the countries mentioned by the Governor was Niger; same country this regime is building rail links to.
“We are worried that this project when completed will be express entry for killer herdsmen and terrorists from Niger. We see it also as a plot to flood Nigeria with illegal aliens for purposes of undermining the 2023 polls.
“Therefore, we condemn this venture as wasteful because of the danger of being used to import weapons that will set Nigeria ablaze. Whereas there are no such Rail lines linking Lagos to Enugu and Port Harcourt or Maiduguri to Enugu, President Buhari is investing almost $2bn to build railways for terrorists and bandits to flood into Nigeria and destabilise the country. Is this government just for the North”? The rights group expressed.
Beyond the security aspect, the Rights Group queried the economic benefit of the project to Nigeria, asserting that the Nigerian economy, as it is today, is not in a state to contain this kind of wasteful spending.
“If we may ask what is the legality and morality of borrowing from china and then turn back to build infrastructures in another sovereign state and then compel Nigerians to cough out taxes to pay back these dubious loans they never benefitted from?” HURIWA queried.
Conclusively, HURIWA took a swipe at President Buhari saying: “Terrorism has become a global trend, and it is thought that the current government of Muhammadu Buhari would seek out practical ways to strengthen our porous borders, instead it is creating easy and accessible means of illegal arms trafficking and immigrants”.
Have you ever considered publishing an e-book or guest
authoring on other blogs? I have a blog based on the same topics you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know
my visitors would value your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel
free to shoot me an e mail.