The Nigerian Union of Journalists has condemned the recent attacks in Yelwata, Benue State, which claimed several lives, saying that such incidents tarnish Nigeria’s image globally.
In a statement on Monday, the NUJ said that the world had been horrified by the killings in the state in the past few days.
“These killings, in Yelwata, Guma local government council, are coming on the heels of other violent tragedies that have led to the gruesome loss of lives. The capacity of incidences such as this to erode public confidence in the nation-state, and negatively impact the international image of Nigeria cannot be overstated,” the statement read in part.
READ ALSO: Expert Blames Benue Killings On Porous Borders, System Failures
While noting that the security of lives and property is the most basic responsibility of the government, the union lamented that this has proven to be a very difficult task for successive governments in the last 15 years.
It wondered how a country that sacrificed the lives of its soldiers to ensure lasting peace abroad, now lacks the will and ability to defend the homestead.
It said, “Nigeria needs her citizens to believe in her capacity to keep them safe and secure. This is the most basic of all enshrined responsibilities of the state. Section 14 (2)(b)of the 1999 Federal Constitution as amended makes an uncompromising declaration on the primary duty of the state to keep her citizens safe.
“Sadly, in the past 15 years, various governments across political lines have struggled ineffectively to fulfill this crucial obligation. As we have maintained in previous lamentations on the killings of our peoples from the North, East, South, and West of our geopolitical space, we refuse to believe that the Nigerian state has lost the ability to protect both her territories and her people.”
The union also said that it refused to believe that a country that sacrificed the lives of her soldiers to ensure lasting peace abroad in Liberia and Sierra Leone now lacked the will and ability to defend the homestead.
Source: Channels TV
Leave a Reply