Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The National Executive Council meeting of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) held in Kaduna on Thursday said dialogue and consultations with the other parts of the country is the only solution to bring back the peace which has eluded Nigeria in recent time.
In a communique issued and read by the National Publicity Secretary of the forum, Emmanuel Yawe, the meeting chaired by the national chairman of the Forum, Chief Audu Ogbe, expressed displeasure over the state of affairs in the North and the country.
He said the Forum condemned the activities of insurgents, kidnappers and bandits in the North, saying that their activities are killing the peace and progress for which the north was noted for when the founders of the region were in power.
The Forum also decried the utterances of some actors and leaders who have sought to inflame regional, ethnic and religious passions out of the current situation in the country.
To this end, the Forum called on Nigerian leaders to exercise restraint in their utterances in the current circumstances.
It also regretted that the kidnapped students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation had remained in captivity and the Kaduna state government has not done much to get them released.
“The Forum agreed to take up their plight with the state government and the federal government too.”
On the reports of the unfortunate killings of some northerners in the South East, the forum noted that seemed suspicious.
It, however, called on security agencies to investigate these killings and fish out the culprits.
“We also warn our youths who have suddenly started distributing messages on the social media calling on reprisal attacks on Ibos and their business interests in the north.
“We the Arewa Consultative Forum stand against all lawless acts of self-help and call on all northern youths to stop such evil plans.
“They do not enjoy our support. The Arewa Consultative Forum believes in dialogue and consultation as a way of bringing peace and normalcy back to our troubled region and Nation.
“We however condemn the payment of ransom and call on the bandits and insurgents who are holding other citizens as hostages to desist from such ungodly acts.
“No religion that is practised in Northern Nigeria permits such sinful acts like holding other human beings as hostages for financial reward.”
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