The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, on Wednesday called on President Bola Tinubu to suspend his visit to France and return home to attend to pressing domestic problems, particularly insecurity exemplified by the repeated killings in Plateau State.
He noted that at least 150 lives had been lost in the country in the last two weeks since the President embarked on a working visit to France.
“Mr President, Domestic problems Beacons.
“I am compelled at this time in our lives as a nation to call on our retreating President’s attention to the security challenges at home, which entails that he immediately suspend his ongoing retreat in a foreign land and come home to address the overwhelming security situation across the country.
“This urgent call has become necessary following the rising incidents of crimes and criminalities all over Nigeria with an apparent absence of governance.
“In the two weeks you have been away, over 150 Nigerians have lost their lives to insecurity across Nigeria, especially in Plateau and Zamfara States”, Obi wrote on his X handle on Wednesday.
He cited widespread security challenges across the Federation, expressing surprise that Tinubu could afford to stay put outside the country amid the deaths and economic losses.
Obi stated, “The repeated pipeline explosions in the Niger Delta, further reflect a nation in distress.
“In the North East, Borno state leaders are bemoaning the return of insurgency with troops and civilians being killed randomly. In the South East, the story is the same: killings and abduction.
“Amid all these, the CEO of the troubling company called Nigeria is retreating in far away land in France from the company’s headquarters.
“The primary duty of any government is securing the lives and property of its citizens and one wonders the type of retreat going on in another country where peace has been secured by their leaders while blood continues to flow in our country.
“The fight for a better Nigeria is not about individuals; it is about ensuring that every citizen can see, feel, and benefit from the policies and decisions of those in power.
“I, therefore like to urge Mr President to quickly suspend whatever he is doing in France and rush home to take responsibility by addressing these disturbing issues.
“That is the new Nigeria that the nation seeks.”
His appeal to the President came as Obi also condemned the latest killing of another 50 people in Bassa, Plateau state.
“This heartbreaking incident comes barely a day after I visited Platea, a land of courageous and resilient people who, for years, have continued to cry out for justice, peace, and protection.
*To return from such a visit only to be confronted with another round of bloodshed is both painful and unacceptable. No nation can thrive when its citizens are slaughtered in their homes and communities without consequence”, he wrote.
Obi believes that the killings in Plateau are not merely a case of isolated violence, but involve deeper issues that the Federal Government must address squarely.
“What is happening in Plateau State is no longer isolated violence. As rightly pointed out by Governor Muftwang, this has become a deliberate, systematic pattern of coordinated attacks. It is imperative that the federal government urgently rises to its constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property across Nigeria.
“This is not the time for promises and press statements. It is time for concrete, strategic action. The people of Plateau need more than sympathy, they need security. The federal government must immediately deploy reinforced security operations and actionable intelligence to dismantle the criminal networks behind these atrocities”, he added.
Calling for the prosecution of the perpetrators, Obi noted that no country could afford to mourn its citizens everyday.
“We cannot continue to mourn our fellow citizens daily while those responsible walk free. There must be justice, and it must be swift, transparent, and total. The perpetrators must be identified, apprehended, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“Nigerians deserve to live in peace, with dignity and without fear, in every corner of this country. My heart goes out to the bereaved families, and I pray that the souls of the departed rest in peace. May God grant the people of Plateau strength in this time of profound grief”, the former governor of Anambra state, said.
Credit: Nigerian Tribune