The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC has called for an end to the killings going on across several states in Nigeria.Some of the states where worrisome killings have been reported include Benue, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Rivers and Taraba.
NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, made this call this in a statement Wednesday.
He said: “ We are upset at the rate of serial killings around the country, notably in Benue, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Rivers and Taraba States reported in the media as orchestrated actions of armed civilians in the guise of herdsmen.
“We are more worried that these mass murders have continued unabated as if our security agencies are helpless.
According to Wabba: “These killings have not only threatened security of lives and properties but constitutes a major impediment to the much needed growth and development of the country as regular work in both informal and formal sectors of the economy have grimly been hampered while the economy groans.
“We do not think it would be right for the security agencies to ignore the dangers of allowing the unhindered escalation of these fatal attacks that can not in any way be downplayed as mere communal clashes the same way similar incidents were allowed to grow into terror gangs such as Boko Haram that were eventually declared as terrorist groups of global attention.
“We believe the Federal Government must rise up to its responsibility by directing appropriate security agencies to urgently apprehend the situation. No part of the country is of less consequence to our national development and therefore the responsibility of securing all lives and properties in our country is squarely placed as the full responsibility of the Federal Government.
“We therefore urge government to move further from merely sending policemen to the affected areas by constituting an emergency intervention panel that will transparently look at the issues and make urgent, workable recommendation that are potent enough to assuage any grievance(s) that may have caused these attacks.
“Government must not be perceived to be uninterested in ensuring peace and security in any part of the country for any reason. Those attacking the communities are not ghosts and should not be left untouchable. No government will survive the advent of another terrorist group in our country. Mass killing is enough a symptom of terrorism and we can’t afford to have our country classified as a safe haven for terrorist groups as these will scare off the much needed foreign investment in our country.
“These killings must stop and they must stop now,” NLC said.
