Nigerian opposition leader, Peter Obi, has called for stringent measures to combat bandit attacks in Nigeria after gunmen kidnapped schoolchildren in Kaduna.
About 50 persons, including a family of seven, were reportedly killed in a militia gang war in the Ukum area of Benue State.
Over 200 internally displaced persons, mostly women, were reportedly abducted by terrorists in Borno State last Friday.
That abduction was followed by another in a school in Kaduna on March 7.
“Once again, Nigerians are besieged by reports of terror attacks in different parts of the country,” said the former governor of Anambra State on his X handle.
“Aside from the sad and painful loss of precious human lives to these terror attacks, our dear nation has continued to lose its economic and social life to insecurity.
“More worrisome is that these attacks now occur almost daily. We must not allow our dear nation to continue this dangerous slide into anarchy.”
Obi said he was equally shocked to read that farmers in Northern Nigeria now pay bandits up to N100,000 for permission to farm or risk being attacked.
He believes all these sad occurrences should not be happening in Nigeria at a time when we need more hands on the farms to enable us to produce enough foods for local consumption, stem the galloping food inflation and build a productive economy and nation for ourselves.
The LP chieftain, however, saluted the security agencies, who have continued to make different sacrifices to ensure that insecurity is stamped out from Nigeria.
However, Obi said every Nigerian needs to make more efforts to match the enemies of our nation with enough fire power to subdue them and reclaim Nigeria.
He added that ultimately, he has maintained that lifting the people out of poverty through job creation and support for small businesses is the surest way of fighting insecurity in the long run.
Obi stated that the vast lands in the North remain the nation’s greatest assets, which if invested in by the government, will productively engage the youth and ultimately reduce crime.
“I sincerely commiserate with all the families who have lost their loved ones in these attacks, pray for quick recovery of the injured, and that the abducted ones may be rescued without further harm. May God grant eternal rest to the dead,” Obi stated.
