The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has expressed its condolences to the families of the security agents who were killed by a militia group in Nasarawa state recently, calling their killing brutal and calamitous.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party prayed that God will grant the families the fortitude to bear their
losses and also grant eternal rest to the victims.
It urged the federal government to ensure that the wives, children and other dependants of the slain security personnel are adequately catered for as a way of minimizing the impact of their bereavement
ACN condemned the rate at which insurgents and militia groups in the country are targetting and killing security agents, calling the development totally unacceptable and downright barbaric.
The party called on the authorities to declare a zero tolerance for the killing of security agents by ensuring that those who perpetrate such killings are fished out and brought to justice without delay.
It also called for continuous training and the provision of necessary equipment for the security agents so that they can adequately protect themselves while carrying on their constitutional responsibilities of protecting lives and property.
”A poorly-trained, poorly-motivated and inadequately kitted security agent is a soft target for the kind of stone-age marauders now rampaging across our country,” ACN said.
Meanwhile, the party has commended the police authorities for assuring that there will be no reprisal attacks against the community where the dastardly killings took place in Nasarawa, and for opting for negotiation rather than violence to secure the release of the policemen still said to be in the custody of the militia.
”By that singular act, the authorities have portrayed the Nigeria police as a civilised force which has total respect for its own rules of engagement, unlike the medieval groups that have been so quick to take the lives of those saddled by the State with protecting lives and property.
”We have always warned the security agencies against descending to the level of the barbarians who have been unleashing violence against them, and we are glad our gallant men and women in uniform have heeded this warning. That does not mean the perpetrators must be allowed to get away with their heinous crime. It only means that innocent people will not
bear the brunt of their actions,” ACN said.