Presidential aspirant Mohammed Hayatu-Deen has revealed how he intends to tackle the country’s security challenges, stressing that the crisis is not separate from the economy.
According to him, when farmers cannot reach their fields, food prices rise. When traders cannot move goods, the cost of living rises. When young men cannot find work, criminal networks find recruits. Insecurity fuels poverty.
Hayatu-Deen said poverty fuels insecurity, t break the cycle, Nigeria must restore the authority of the state.
He said he has spent years studying this cycle, just as he listed actions he would take right from his first day in office if elected.
Hayatu-Deen stated that he would designate specific groups as terrorist organisations, using Section 54 of the Terrorism Prevention Act, which gives the President that power. He said Yan Bindiga, ISWAP-affiliated kidnapping syndicates, and other identifiable criminal networks operating across Nigeria will be formally proscribed.
“The Nigerian state must stop treating organised mass violence as ordinary crime,” he said.
Hayatu-Deen promised to prosecute every bandit, kidnapper, and collaborator under terrorism laws, with accelerated procedures through designated terrorism courts.
He said the days of light sentences, quiet releases, and cases disappearing into an endless judicial backlog will be over.
He said his administration will dismantle the financial networks that keep terrorism alive.
