Buhari Reveals Reason For Upsurge In Insecurity Accross The World

President Muhammadu Buhari has attributed the reason for the upsurge of insecurity globally, especially on religious extremism on the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

This the President said at the AQABA Process virtual meeting in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan yesterday.

Buhari promised however that the government would continue to sustain efforts in order to make adjustments to new lifestyles and be sensitive to the security underpinnings, as experts try to find vaccines for COVID-19, and a possible acceptable cure.

In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina,  the migration to cyberspace posed a greater risk for radicalization, especially with the growing constraints on physical contacts and movements.

According to him, “It is important to state that the spread of COVID-19 has led to the movement of activities to cyberspace. Furthermore, lock-down policies and restrictions of movement in affected areas mean that people would move their day to day social and business activities to cyberspace. This, however, comes with an increase in the risk of individuals being radicalized online.”

According to him, the country has developed a robust framework led by Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in order to coordinate and oversee the country’s multi-sectoral inter-governmental efforts at curbing the spread and mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said, “This was done while currently monitoring effects of the measures and taking steps to mitigate these effects as quickly as possible. This was in a bid to ensure sustained human security across the population.

“Earlier, we had established the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee with the responsibility of providing among others a national vision for humanitarian actors and settling disputes that may arise from interactions between security services and the humanitarian community. This committee was timely as a stop-gap measure in coping with the effects of COVID-19.”

According to the President, the government has also taken steps aimed at tackling the devastation of social and economic dimensions of the pandemic with a focus on the most vulnerable citizens in the society through provision of palliatives as well as other economic stimulus packages.

He said that the measures put in place came at a cost, adding that it would be sustained.

He cited citing Mali as an example where social and economic challenges took a toll on government and pushed democracy to a “breaking point.

“Such situation could create a vacuum that can be exploited by terrorists and violent extremists.’’

The President noted that the government will continue to monitor activities of terrorists online to control radicalization of citizens by terrorist groups, and other violent cells, following huge traffic online due to COVID-19.

President Buhari appreciated His Majesty King Abdullah II for the invitation to the meeting, also thanked Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for hosting the meeting under the AQABA Process