Arewa tasks Nigerian govt to wage total war on terrorists, bandits

Apex Northern group, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has called on the Federal Government to wage a “total war on terrorists and bandits” to curb the incessant killing of Nigerians and the destruction of national assets.

Reacting to the spate of attacks in the north including kidnapping for ransom, insurgency, killings and incessant farmer-herder clashes, among others, the ACF tasked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to do everything possible to checkmate the terrorists.

In a statement issued on Sunday by ACF Secretary-General Murtala Aliyu, the group enjoined security agencies and the Nigerian military to deploy men and arms to “attack terrorists’ enclaves, instead of providing security escorts for trains across the country.”

The ACF also urged the government to employ whatever is “available to secure lives and properties and make every inch of the land peaceful and habitable.”

“The Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari should wage an all out war on terrorists and bandits terrorising the Northern parts of the country.

“The daily killing and destruction of properties and government assets have gone out hand and the authorities should do everything possible to defeat them.

Read also: Arewa Youths blame Buhari’s govt for Kaduna train bombing

“The various security agencies and the military must do all it takes to ensure that every inch of Nigeria habitable and peaceful.

“The survival of the country therefore must be paramount and lives and property of citizens, law and order and freedom of expression must be protected.

“The holistic submission on the failure of governance, as attested by our governors, is an indication that all is not well in the nooks and corners of the territory called Nigeria. We have no other territory than this, so also a country but Nigeria.

“The Arewa Consultative Forum appreciate the frustration of leaders at the sub-national level. However, we call on the governments, governors and citizens alike, to avoid any fire brigade approach on any pressing issue bedevilling the country.

“The security of the country rests on the central government and calls for a cursory, calm, implementable and lasting solution,” the group said.

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