The Conference of Concerned Igbo Elders for Peace and National Unity has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take up the gauntlet as a Commander-in-Chief and deal with the enemies of state bent on undermining his government.

The president of the conference, Prof. William Okocha, told journalists in Abuja that “responsible governments all over the world do not treat criminal elements with kid gloves, but rather deploy maximum state assets to crush their potency.”

He said the time had come for Buhari to show greater capacity to deal with challenges confronting national development, topmost being insecurity occasioned by banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, armed robbery and other existential threats.

Okocha also urged Buhari to assure Ndigbo and other regions that they remained an integral part of the Nigerian State.