The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has strongly condemned Monday’s suicide bombing in Kano in which innocent citizens were killed and maimed, saying it is time for all stakeholders in the country to act decisively to stem an impending national catastrophe.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it is now futile to expect that the federal government can end the crisis, as it has so far shown that it possesses neither the vision nor the capacity to confront the worsening acts of terrorism in the country.
”As we commiserate with the victims of this senseless act and their families, we will like to say that this is the time for sober reflection and restraint, and that all leaders of thought must urgently come together, formally or informally, to avert a national calamity that will not spare anyone, whether or not they are members of the Boko Haram sect,” it said.
ACN said all religious, ethnic and political leaders must start by preaching restraint in their domains, since it is now clear that the end-gamers behind these senseless killings are bent on setting Nigerians against themselves.
”There are two kinds of war that a nation can hardly survive: religious and ethnic war. A combination of both can only spell doom for any nation, hence we must move today to prevent our nation from being plunged into religious and ethnic war, which seems to be the intention of the anarchists behind the worsening orgy of killings in our country.
”We also call on our leaders at all levels to exercise caution in their statements, so as not to incite one group against the other. This is because we have heard the drums of war being beaten by some easily excitable leaders, at a time that requires utmost restraint,” the party said.
ACN noted, with gross disappointment, that the recent escalation in the senseless attacks in the north follows the unstatesman-like display by President Goodluck Jonathan when he paid a belated visit to the states that have now become the epicentre of the Boko Haram crisis.
”We have said this before and we hereby repeat it. The President’s display of anger, instead of temperance, at his testy meeting with the community leaders during his visit, is like pouring petrol on a naked fire. It will definitely result in conflagration, the type of which we are now witnessing.
”The President, forgetting that he is the father of the nation, chose to talk down on people who are themselves victims of the Boko Haram violence as anyone else. Where soothing words were required, he chose to inflame passion with unnecessary vituperation. Here we are!
”We have also warned, as many are now doing, that it is time for the government to explore other options, including engagement, instead of the outright use of force, in ending the crisis. This is because the use of force in itself has never conclusively resolved any crisis. Even parties that have gone to war must still come back and talk! It is not too late to change tactics, unless some folks are benefitting from these senseless killings,” the party said.
