Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has stated his displeasure over the killings, which he described as “mindless bloodletting” in the North Central zone of the country.
On Thursday, July 12, 2023, the former Anambra State Governor took to his verified Twitter handle to condemn in totality the violent attacks in Benue and in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Describing the killings and kidnappings in the states as “worrisome”, Obi stated that “the rising insecurity in the country leading to mindless bloodletting, particularly in the North Central zone of the country, and the continued disruption of business and social activities in the South East are all becoming very worrisome.
“The violent attacks in the North-Central states of Benue and Plateau lately took a new twist with high records of kidnapping, arson, and loss of human lives. According to the 1st Quarter Mass Atrocities Casualty Tracking Report, over 1230 Nigerians were killed. 79 of them security operatives, with over 600 abductions in the first quarter of this year alone”.
Obi, who expressed grievances over the killings in the country, further expressed fears that the loss of lives in the country is far above what is obtainable in war-torn Ukraine.
“With what has been happening in the North Central and Zamfara states lately, the figure as of today will be mind-boggling, even far more than the deaths recorded in Russia and Ukraine’s ongoing carnage,” obi said.
“It’s unacceptable that hundreds of innocent lives will continue to be wasted in Nigeria needlessly through communal clashes, bandits, and kidnapping activities. The situation in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State has raised a lot of anxiety because of the number of lives and properties lost with very little resistance from security operatives,” Obi added.
Speaking on the insecurity in the South East, Obi called for a “more strategic and intelligence-driven approach to reducing the suffering of innocent people”.
He said, “Also disturbing is the continued disruption of business and social activities in the South-East region over the Sit-at-Home directive purported to be coming from the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, when the body has publicly denied issuing such a directive. What is going on in the South East, therefore, is essentially criminal activity that must be nipped in the bud, with all hands on deck, security agencies and the people alike.
“The South East Governors are to be commended for their renewed efforts at curbing this menace, but there is a need to be more strategic and intelligence-driven in our approach to reducing the suffering of innocent people.
“Security agencies should take necessary and quick steps to arrest the ugly incidents because the country cannot just be spilling the blood of innocent citizens”.
“We as a people, through our various governments, should uphold our value for human lives in the way and manner in which we respond to issues that touch lives. The implications of an insecure environment for development are far-reaching because no investor will consider going to an area where their resources will not be safe and secured,” he added.
Furthermore, he called on all stakeholders to put all hands on deck to continue preaching peace in the country.
“Therefore, I will like to urge critical stakeholders in these areas—traditional, Christian, and Muslim leaders—to continue pushing for peace among their people in the way and manner they conduct themselves,” he said.
Obi, who called for the amelioration of the economic hardship faced by Nigerians, also urged “The various governments at all levels” to “also take deliberate steps to address the issue of poverty and youth unemployment because the provision of stomach infrastructure is the surer way to tackle insecurity”.
“Also, urgent steps should be taken consciously and intentionally to ameliorate the hardship of the people,” he added.
