The 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi has described the recent mass killings in Benue State as a direct consequence of leadership failure in Nigeria.
Speaking via a statement shared on his X account on Sunday, Obi expressed his grief over the gruesome murder which led to the death of women, children, soldiers, and displaced persons.
He urged the government to take immediate action, warning against the normalisation of mass murder.
“My heart is heavy as I learn of yet another horrific series of killings in Benue of women, children, soldiers, and displaced persons, all senselessly slain.
“This tragedy has become too common in our national life, and the Benue situation now calls for a national emergency,” Obi said.
The former Anambra governor argued that the large scale of killings in recent times reflects systemic governance failure.
“Over 200 lives have reportedly been extinguished in a single onslaught, homes burnt, families shattered, communities left in ruin. This is not merely violence.
“It is a failure of leadership, a stain on our collective conscience,” Obi stated.
He lamented the continued inability of governments at all levels to perform their primary duty of securing lives and property, saying each loss of life is a deep wound to the nation.
He said, ”Every life lost is a Nigerian life, each one precious, each one irreplaceable. We cannot accept the normalisation of mass killing. It is intolerable.
“The primary duty of any government, federal, state, or local is to protect lives and property.
“When it repeatedly fails, we must ask: What kind of nation are we bequeathing to our children?”
Obi offered words of solidarity to grieving communities in Benue, assuring them that their suffering is not in vain.