The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has asked the Federal Government to look at the possibility of engaging ex-servicemen, the civilian task forces, hunters, and whatever is available to secure all vulnerable communities against attacks by bandits and terrorists.
The recommendation follows the recent train attack in Kaduna State that claimed eight lives and injured 26 while some others are still missing.
In a statement titled “Time to Further Reflect,” signed by its National Secretary, Murtala Aliyu the ACF, noted that the holistic submission on the failure of governance, as attested by the state governors, is an indication that all is not well in the nooks and corners of the territory called Nigeria.
It, therefore, said that the survival of the country must be paramount, and the lives and property of citizens, law and order, and freedom of expression must be protected.
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While noting the frustration of leaders at the sub-national level, the Arewa Consultative Forum, however, called on the government, governors, and citizens alike, to avoid any fire brigade approach on any pressing issue that is bedeviling the country.
“The security of the country rests on the central government and calls for a cursory, calm, implementable, and lasting solution. It emphasised that invitation of foreign forces or mercenaries to fight our course must be treaded with utmost caution.”
On the proposition for the Nigerian Airforce to escort trains from Abuja to Kaduna, Ibadan to Lagos, or the Itakpe routes, the Forum called on the security agency to redesign their operations and instead deploy their machinery and manpower in launching attacks on the bandits and terrorist enclaves.
“Dedicating such operations to only railway lines shall make air and road users more vulnerable to such attacks. The new dimension of the terror attacks, in the country, both on human and infrastructure calls for total war,” the forum argued.
“Nigeria, most especially the northern states, could not be said to be in the state of tranquility that warrants development. The entire country cries for peace. This calls for sober reflection and absolute return to our Creator for repentance. The ACF calls on the leadership of our political parties to structure their manifestos to address our challenges and refocus our psyche towards the peaceful growth and development of the country and not the current race for the sake of power or material gains”.
“We must appreciate the responsibility bestowed on us by providence as the largest black nation and as a leader on our continent must do everything within our powers to keep Nigeria stable and strong.”
