BY Chinedu Asadu
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigeria cannot be said to be a free country amid the killings resulting from clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
Obasanjo said this on Saturday when he laid a wreath at the graveyard of the 73 victims of herdsmen attack in Markurdi, Benue state.
He said the continued crisis requires collaboration between leaders and that until the issue is addressed from the “root”, more persons will be buried.
“There is no doubt that we haven’t got it right. We haven’t got it right because whatever is behind this, normally in any civilised society we must get to the root of it,” he said.
“And until we get to the root of this we will be burying victims. We will be assuming what is not assumable, because we must know why is this happening and who we must put and end to it.
“And somebody must accept the responsibility to put an end to this. Or it has to be a collective responsibility, then so be it. But there must be an end to it.
“We cannot talk of a free country, a secured country, a country where we will want development to take place, where we will want to invite investors from outside and from inside and we are suffering this type of senselessness.”
The former president said nothing can be worse than the killing of innocent citizens as seen in Benue
“In fact, displaced persons still have hope but people that are buried here are lost and lost forever,” he remarked.
“If the issue is tackled right from the roots there will be no room for assumptions. We must collectively find solutions.”
Obasanjo said he was shocked to hear that after the mass burial of 73 persons, 83 more persons were reportedly killed in Benue.
He appealed to Samuel Ortom, governor of the state, not to relent on efforts to resolve the crisis because “there would surely be light at the end of the tunnel”.
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