The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on Wednesday called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Northern Nigeria, citing the extraordinary scale of insecurity and the government’s constitutional and international obligations to safeguard lives and property.
The forum lamented that the state security architecture remains inadequate, overstretched, and in some cases complicit through inaction and silence, leaving citizens vulnerable and eroding public trust in government institutions, reports The Guardian.
In a communiqué signed by its spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jika Jiddere, the forum expressed grave concern over the spate of violent attacks, abductions, and killings across the region, warning that continued inaction could undermine Nigeria’s stability and threaten regional peace.
The NEF recalled the August 19 attack on a mosque in Unguwan Mantau village, where armed assailants killed at least 27 worshippers during early morning prayers, leaving several injured and displacing hundreds.
It also condemned the execution of 35 abductees in Zamfara State despite ransom payments, as well as two separate attacks in Kaduna State’s Kauru and Kudan LGAs, which left eight dead and eight others severely injured.
Jiddere said: “These incidents are not isolated cases, rather they are part of a persistent pattern of organised criminal violence and banditry that have claimed thousands of lives, displaced hundreds of thousands of citizens, undermined food security, crippled economic activity, and inflicted deep psychological and social trauma on individuals and several communities
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