July 4, 2014
The pan northern socio-political organization, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) said on Wednesday that the current state of insecurity in the region has placed it in a state of despair and hopelessness.
In a statement signed by its the National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim and made available to The Nation in Kaduna, the Forum describe as wicked, gruesome and condemnable, Monday’s bomb attack on a market in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
ACF appealed to the insurgents to embrace civilized ways of addressing perceived grievances and seek dialogue with the government as violence has never address any misgiving.
The statement reads: “The bomb blast that occurred on Monday morning at the Maiduguri market in Borno State was wicked, gruesome and condemnable considering the huge number of children and old women that were killed in the blast and also the destruction of property it caused.
“In the last 10 days, over 100 people were killed in various bomb blasts in Borno, Abuja, Kano, Bauchi and Kaduna. Many states in the northern region including Abuja have witnessed and experienced too many bomb blasts in the last five years which had killed many innocent lives, displaced many people, brought untold hardship on the citizens and distorted the economic life of the region.
“In fact, the insecurity situation has placed the region in a state of despair and hopelessness despite the effort of the military and other security agencies in combating the insurgency.
“The activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, unknown gunmen and other criminals in the north are most unfortunate as innocent people have continued to suffer unjustly for perceived grievances which they know nothing about.”