AfriqueCAN
OPPOSITION figures have called for more stringent actions to address the spike in insecurity, especially with the killing in Jos, Plateau State.
A former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar, and ex-governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, were unanimous in their call on authorities to go beyond condemnation and stem the tide.
“It is unacceptable that these attacks happen with such frequency, and even more unacceptable that there seems to be no decisive, sustained strategy to end them. No nation or leader normalises tragedy,” Obi wrote on his X handle.
“The safety of Nigerian lives must become non-negotiable; we cannot continue to mourn what should have been prevented. Enough is enough.”
While condoling with the families of the victims, Obi said the attack in Plateau “reminds us, yet again, of the insecurity innocent citizens face in our nation without any protection”.
Atiku re-echoed a similar sentiment, saying he is “outraged by the barbaric attack”.
“Despite endless pronouncements and so-called marching orders, insecurity remains the grim, daily reality of ordinary Nigerians who continue to bear the brunt of a failing system. It is long past the time for outrage without action,” Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), wrote on X.
“The anger across the land must now compel urgent, decisive political will to confront and crush this menace. The continued slaughter of innocent citizens cannot become our new normal.”
For Kwankwaso, the Jos killing “represents the continuing failure of leadership and the deepening culture of impunity that has turned parts of our country into killing fields”.
As far as he is concerned, “The recurring violence in Plateau State, and indeed across several parts of Nigeria, can no longer be treated as business as usual. It demands to be treated as the national emergency that it was declared to be by the Federal and State Governments.
“Our people deserve the right to live in peace, security, and dignity, regardless of their ethnicity or faith.”
Sunday’s attack in Angwan Rukuba, in Jos North Local Government Area, left 28 people dead and several others wounded.
The assailants opened fire at a bar-cum-restaurant in the Anguwan Rukuba neighbourhood, in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The incident has sparked outrage among Nigerians and protests by angry residents of the area.
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