US airstrikes: Communicate effectively with Nigerians, PDP tasks FG

Amid the US strike against terrorist cells in Northern Nigeria, the Tanimu Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday charged the Federal Government to communicate effectively with Nigerians on the military operations.

The party expressed surprise that the information about the tomahawk strike came from the United States Government first and not from the Nigerian Government.

“Nigerians were notified of the American strike on terrorists’ assets through the verified social media pages of President Trump and other American officials before the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a vague statement many hours later, offering a passive confirmation of the knowledge and cooperation of the Nigerian Government in the operation.

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“While international cooperation in the fight against high crimes like terrorism is very much appreciated, the Peoples Democratic Party is deeply concerned about a communication structure where foreign powers break the news of security operations in our country before our government does.

“This inverted communication approach does not help the Federal Government or Nigerians in any way, especially when taken against the background that the US military has been reported to have previously entered and operated in Nigeria successfully without the permission and knowledge of the government”, the party said in Abuja through a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong.

The PDP argued that the right approach should have been the Nigerian government informing and sensitising the citizenry about the strike and preparing them on what to expect.

“The Federal Government should have been the first to report the news in order to properly sensitize the Nigerian populace, instead of waiting to confirm news already in public circulation, unless they were taken unawares like the rest of the citizens.

“We urge the Federal Government to ensure that the defence agreement with the United States of America includes joint operations, which will ultimately result in knowledge sharing and experiential learning to help Nigeria sustainably combat insecurity, rather than full externally-led ‘ ‘precision attacks,’’’ it added.