Peter Obi decries continuing insecurity; Says ‘Nigeria must not become a killing field’
Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has decried the continuing killings, abductions and destruction of property going on in different parts of the country, especially in the North Central geo-political zone, insisting that “Nigeria must not become a killing field.”
The former Governor of Anambra State, in an X post noted that in recent days, deadly attacks have occurred in “Benue, Plateau and Niger States, three contiguous states in Nigeria’s North-Central region.
“In Mangu, Plateau State, at least 23 people were officially reported killed in the Jwak Maitumbi attack, while residents put the toll above 30. More than 45 houses were reportedly destroyed. In Borgu, Niger State, recent attacks reportedly killed over 40 people and abducted more than 100, though the figures remain contested.”
He said that these are coming “amid continuing violence in Benue, where communities face repeated killings, abductions and the destruction of homes and livelihoods.”
In the X post, titled “Nigeria Cannot Become a Killing Field,” where he asked rhetorically, “What is happening to our country?” the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), noted that “Nigeria is not officially at war, yet citizens are being attacked in their villages, abducted after prayers, driven from their homes and stripped of their farms.”
What is happening in these North Central states, he noted, “is similar to what is happening elsewhere in the country, with some attacks even going unreported. The violence across these states must no longer be treated as isolated incidents. It is a national security emergency requiring urgent and coordinated action.”
He, therefore, urged “governments at all levels to wake up to their responsibility and take urgent and decisive action to end this madness once and for all,” insisting that “Government must protect vulnerable communities, improve intelligence and rapid-response capabilities, rescue abducted Nigerians, and arrest and prosecute those responsible.
“We cannot keep counting bodies after every attack. We must prevent these attacks before they happen,” he stressed, pointing out that “Protecting lives and property is the most basic duty of government. Nigerians deserve nothing less.”
