By Kolawole Ojebisi
Peter Obi, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has urged those at the helm at both the federal and state levels to move beyond issuing perfunctory statements in the wake of disasters to taking actions that will bring permanent solutions to security challenges.
Obi attributed the incessant killings ravaging the country, particularly in Benue State, to systemic failure.
He spoke in a statement posted on his official X account on Sunday.
Obi wrote,”To all relevant authorities, I say that the time has come to move beyond symbolic gestures to decisive deployment.
“Let your actions speak louder than visits or statements. A safe, secure Benue is not too much to ask,it is our moral duty, our national duty.”
While condemning th recent mass killings in Benue State, Obi expressed heartbreak over the tragic incident which claimed the lives of women, children, soldiers, and displaced persons.
He called for an urgent national response, warning against what he called the growing normalisation of mass killings in the country.
“My heart is heavy as I learn of yet another horrific series of killings in Benue of women, children, soldiers, and displaced persons, all senselessly slain.
“This tragedy has become too common in our national life, and the Benue situation now calls for a national emergency,” Obi said.
“Over 200 lives have reportedly been extinguished in a single onslaught, homes burnt, families shattered, communities left in ruin. This is not merely violence.
“It is a failure of leadership, a stain on our collective conscience,” Obi stated.
He added, ”Every life lost is a Nigerian life, each one precious, each one irreplaceable. We cannot accept the normalisation of mass killing. It is intolerable.
“The primary duty of any government, federal, state, or local is to protect lives and property.
“When it repeatedly fails, we must ask: What kind of nation are we bequeathing to our children?.”
He continued: “To the people of Benue, I say: your pain is our pain.
“The blood of your loved ones cries out for justice. The survival of our people must not be negotiable; it must be urgent, deliberate, and comprehensive action.”
Obi’s statement was prompted by the recent attacks by persons suspected to be armed herders on Yelwata and Daudu towns in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.
The attacks, which happened on Friday night and Saturday morning, respectively, left several dead-hundreds of people, including security operatives in its wake.
