Edo killings too barbaric, won’t be tolerated henceforth, Northern Group warns

By Chimezie Godfrey

A Group, Concerned Northerners has strongly condemned the recent killing of 16 northern travellers at Uromi, Edo state.

One of the Conveners of the group, Hajia Najatu Muhammad, while addressing journalist in Abuja on Thursday, lamented that the gruesome massacre about 16 people from the northern part of the country in the most disgusting and savagery manner was reminiscent of the barbarians of the old Roman Empire.

Hajia Muhammad who condemned the dastardly act, declared that such barbaric acts against northerners would henceforth not be tolerated.

She said,”The nation woke up on 28th March to the horrifying news of the gruesome massacre about 16 people from the northern part of the country in the most disgusting and savagery manner reminiscent of the barbarians of the old Roman Empire. We have noted that since the event, leaders have issued the usual condemnations and security agencies have announced the commencements of investigations and community leaders have risen up to speak on the atrocity. But even as this was happening some reckless parochial local champions have continued to insult the North and deride its people; fabricating lies and spreading mischief on this incident a very familiar scene in the last two decades.

“We are here to tell Nigerians that this incident is one too many and will not be tolerated. We are speaking after due consultations with the NEF and ACF and some Northern professionals and precisely because we have restrained our youth from reacting and retaliating.

“For the records this is not the first time the northerners have been targeted and killed under several guises and excuses. We recall the event of March 2016 where at the Mile 12 Crisis where Northerners were killed; in the same 2016 another massacre of innocent Hausa traders and settlers in Port Harcourt were killed; in December 2019 in Akure Market Killings were Northerners were killed; Oyo State at the Iganga Killings in June 2021 where Northerners were killed and their properties were destroyed; in April 2021 in Imo State, where dozens of Northern traders and cattle herders were slaughtered in cold blood by armed; in all these incidences the North restrained itself even as there are far more lager populations of these southerners enjoying the North, growing their business, making money off Northerners all without any form of harassment.

“The North is not stupid. We can longer allow a situation where our people are hunted down like games while the same tribes are welcomed in the North, enjoying hospitality and making money off Northerners.”

Hajia Muhammad blamed successive governments who have not demonstrated the political will to deal with threats to human lives in Nigeria.

“This government and the ones it succeeded have also shown that they neither have the will or the capacity to deal with threats to human life in Nigeria. The country has become a killing zone as they sit there and supervise the sharing of national resources meant to provide for the welfare and security of citizens. As a result citizens daily face precarious hazards as they work hard just to eke a living. In other words our governments are in the habit of ignoring their constitutional duties and taking care of themselves and their fantasies, while citizens, who voted for them in the first place, rot away in penury and anguish, as if they have no conscience at all. This, to say the list, is political blasphemy and it has its consequences. And as certain as death, it will come when it will come.

“We therefore need to remind this government that in the hierarchy of human needs, human life comes first. They have sworn to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which categorically and explicitly stated that the purpose of government is the welfare and security of citizens. We need to remind this government that they are here basking in power courtesy of the votes of the North. We need to remind this government and its security agencies that their excuses for their failure to secure thus country has long been untenable and citizens will not continue to take these excuses kindly.

“Finally these killing of Northerners and the deriding of the North have aggravated and amplified the National Question. If Northerners are still citizens of the Nigerian State then they must be accorded the rights and privileges of citizens in any part of the Nigerian Federation. If, however the Nigerian State is not willing or ready to accord Northerners their rights and privileges as citizens then Northerners will have no obligation towards the Nigerian State. The Nigerian State, like any modern State, is sustained by ‘the social contract’. And John Locks theory of Social Contract, which has gained wide application in our contemporary world, “held that the obligation to obey civil government under the social contract was conditional upon the protection of the natural rights of each person…” if the State should fail, we have no obligation to obey or even continue the union. The North has continued to make sacrifices to keep the Union. It looks like, it is time to throw in the towel,” she said.

Hajia Muhammad called on aggrieved northern youths not to engage in any act of retaliation, while calling for the prosecution of those arrested and the payment of the compensation to the families of the poor citizens who lost their lives.

“While we still appeal to our youth for restraint, this time we shall keep our fingers crossed and mount a sentinel to monitor the investigation promised, the prosecution of those arrested and the payment of the compensation to the families of the poor citizens who lost their lives because the people they elected failed to live up to the oath of office and to the tenets of the constitution,” she said.

Also, on what the group has done to address internal security challenges bedeviling the northern region, the former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung said they have on several occasions called on the Nigerian government to live up to their constitutional responsibility of protecting the lives and property.

He lamented that the Edo state killing of northerners has been a pattern, adding that that is why they are demanding for an end to such heinous acts.

Dalung called on the Edo state government, as well as the federal government to ensure that justice is done on the issue. He equally called on aggrieved northern youths refrain from retaliation.

He said,”We are appealing to the restive youths of the north who by virtue of what happened in Uromi, are calling for repraisal.

“We are saying that this is not just a mere press conference, we are going to back up our demands. We are going to send our letter of demand to Edo state government lodge. We are saying that a transparent investigation will lead to accountability. This will be the last time we are going to gather to talk this issue,” Dalung declared.

Dignitaries at the briefing included Prof Yusuf, Dr Usman Bugaje, Dahiru Yabo, Sadiq Gombe and Mal Nasir among others.