Group to Tinubu: Set up task force on insecurity

Tinubu

The Concerned Nigerian Leaders have called for the establishment of a presidential task force on national security to tackle the killings across the country.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday, prominent Nigerians, drawn from different ethnic, religious and political backgrounds, said the nation is bleeding from escalating violent attacks by gunmen and insurgents.

The leaders cited a report by Amnesty International, saying at least 10,217 Nigerians have been killed in violent attacks within two years, comparing the death toll to the over 10,000 civilian casualties in Ukraine, which is currently at war.

“Parts of Nigeria are enduring wartime levels of slaughter, yet we are officially at peace,” the statement reads.

“The devastation at home is chilling. Benue State alone has witnessed 6,896 killed, over 450,000 displaced, and entire local councils hollowed out by fear.

“Plateau has lost 2,630 lives, its boreholes poisoned, granaries torched, farmers forced to watch harvests rot for fear of ambush on the road to market.

“Zamfara has seen at least 638 villages sacked, and residents are now paying criminal levies by phone under threat of mass killings. Similar horrors persist in Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Niger, where bandits have turned entire districts into fiefdoms.

“Meanwhile, Boko Haram is resurging in the Northeast, regaining the ability to launch deadly assaults, kill servicemen and even attempt overruns of local governments, as seen in recent attacks on Gwoza, Damboa, Biu and Bama, forcing farmers off their fields and reviving fears of the dark days when the entire country trembled under their shadow. The Southeast, too, is gripped by relentless killings by unknown gunmen, making peace increasingly elusive.

“We propose urgently creating a Presidential Task Force on National Security, with extraordinary powers and a clear mandate to coordinate and execute emergency measures to halt the violence.”