The NUJ said the accusations and counter-accusations of involvement of some elite in the killings must stop.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called for an end to the killings in various parts of the country, urging law enforcement to deal decisively with the perpetrators.
Hundreds have been killed in recent times in Edo, Benue, Plateau among others, with many displaced including women and children.
The NUJ said Tuesday in a statement signed by its national secretary, Achike Chude, that the political elite must also demonstrate the will to address the killings and bring them to a halt.
“Once more the killings in our country continue to befuddle minds and agitate the peace loving people of our various communitities in Nigeria,” the body of journalists said.
“From Edo, Benue, Plateau, Zamfara, Kaduna, Borno, Imo, Ondo, etc, the stories of needless and senseless bloodletting present the clearest examples of our endangered socio and geo-political entity.
“These consistent and unrelenting gruesome killings of our fellow Nigerians across geo-political zones speak to the nature and character of the Nigerian state and institutions. It speaks to the seeming helplessness and inability of the security forces to defend the territorial integrity of the state and her peoples.
“But we cannot accept that a motley crowd of renegades, bandits, gunmen, and terrorists even if they are in their few thousands are enough to overrun the entire Nigerian State, pillaging and killing at will. We cannot accept that Nigeria’s security forces which once almost single-handedly brought peace to the war torn countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, no longer have the capacity to stabilize the security of the State.
“We believe that our security forces, comprising the military, police and the DSS not only possess the ability, the will and the capacity to defeat the merchants of death, sorrow, and carnage, they also have the capacity to drive the invaders out of our country.
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“The problem cannot be with our security forces who have had to make the ultimate sacrifice in their engagements with the marauders to keep Nigeria safe. Their heroism in the various theatres of war cannot be overstated. Nigerians are indebted to them. The one true way to pay our debts to these brave men and women is to finish the war they started, on our own terms.
“We believe that the will to engage and defeat the agents and harbingers of terror in our country lie within the exclusive preserve of the political elites who have inexplicably up till this moment failed to form a broad based consensus to tackle insecurity in all parts of the country once and for all. The political class, if they are truly a class imbued with a sense of patriotism and love for the Nigerian state must stand up to be counted at this most crucial and dangerous moment in the life of our country.”
The NUJ said the accusations and counter-accusations of involvement of some elite in the killings must stop, adding that anyone who has contributed to it in any way will face justice in the fullness of time.
“All hands must be on deck to save our country and peoples from those who have shown that they have no respect for the sanctity of human life. The inability to do so can only continue to embolden these degenerates and contribute to the expansion of their network of terror across the country.
“For those still in doubt about the present and future prospects of our country, let it be stated once more that conflict and progress, violence and development do not, and cannot exist on the same spectrum. Our progress as a nation cannot happen in a vacuum. We need peace to be able to demonstrate that unique Nigerian spirit that has seen Nigerians thrive in other parts of the world – a feat recognized by the global community.
“A new kind of political class consciousness is needed. We believe that over the years, those saddled with political leadership have not covered themselves in glory. The circumstances of our sorry state and continuous inability to rise up to our potentials must force a rethink from our leaders. We cannot continue like this.
“Enough is enough! Too many people have died in their thousands and we cannot afford any more lives being sacrificed to satiate the unimaginable blood lusts of those threatening our existence and way of life.
“The Nigeria Union of Journalists is appealing and demanding a serious course correction of the country’s political and security institutions and architecture to finally bring the insecurity situation in Nigeria to a screeching halt,” the union added in the statement.
