The 2019 Presidential aspirant of the Alliance for New Nigeria, Dr Thomas-Wilson Ikubese has called President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the continuous killings in the country.
In a press statement issued to news reporters in Lagos on Monday, the presidential candidate stated that the killings cannot continue under any guise but should be seen as an act of sheer criminality.
He therefore called on the government to act in securing the lives and properties of Nigerian citizens, irrespective of their location, tribe or religion.
“In recent times, there has been incessant loss of lives and properties in Nigeria, virtually on daily basis so much so that foreign media no longer consider it news-worthy as these killings now appear to be part and parcel of normal day-to-day activities in Nigeria.
“The most recent was the attack of Sunday 24th June 2018 on Gashish district of Barkin Ladin LGA and environs in Plateau state, where about one hundred persons were massacred and about fifty houses burnt.
“I hereby call on President Mohammadu Buhari to immediately summon security chiefs to a crucial meeting and direct them to be alive to their statutory responsibilities of securing lives and properties.
“Nigerians should be safe in their father’s land, be it North, South, West or East, irrespective of their tribe, vocation or religion.
“I’m of the opinion that it is an index of corruption for agents of government to wait for the body language of Mr President before carrying out their statutory responsibility.
“President Buhari must therefore put it straight to the security chiefs, in the presence of the Press that he has no vested interest in these killings, that the perpetrators and their sponsors be fished out within a limited time frame, failure of which they will be REMOVED from office. The legal process for their prosecution should thereupon be activated immediately.
“We cannot expect the world to respect our citizens in foreign nations if we do not respect the rights and lives of our own citizens in our nation.
“Whatever the guise, these killings should not be excused, but rather seen as an act on sheer criminality and be so treated by agents of government, irrespective of the figures behind the masquerade.
“The incentive to commit crime today is when the criminals of yesterday walk freely without penalty!
“I hope Mr President acts fast and do the needful for a stitch in time saves nine”, he stated.