Disturbed by the unenviable oil receipts following renewed militancy in the Niger Delta, human rights activist and representative of Kaduna Central in the Senate, Shehu Sani, has urged Nigerians to back the ongoing militarisation of the area.

“As a state, we have a duty to apply force on anyone who picks up arms against our country. By that action, you have crossed the line of civility. And we cannot fold our arms and say that because you have grievances, you should be allowed to blow pipelines and kill people,” he remarked.

Sani, who spoke in Kaduna, blamed the Federal Government for the delay in the release of the Chibok girls held since April 14, 2014.

“What we need to understand is that even if we are going to opt for dialogue, a message needs to be sent clearly to the militants who pick up arms against the state that you cannot win militarily. If you allow armed insurgency to go uncountered, it is simply going to be a recipe for lawlessness,” he stated.

“A lot have been pumped in to pacify the militants but little into addressing the problems of the people of Niger Delta.

“What Jonathan did was to buy peace by pumping in money, thus created a new rich elitist bourgeoisie from the region.

“Elements who picked up arms against the state were enriched to have enough money to play around with. But, it does not amount to addressing the problems of infrastructural decay of the area. If you pay militants stipends every month for them not to bomb, if you take some of them to study abroad, if you give them money to buy houses and cars, you are not addressing the basic problems of infrastructure, under-development and poverty in the region,” Sani added.