A Plateau community after gunmen attack | File photo
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has sounded the alarm over escalating violence in the region.
On June 20, more than 12 people were killed after a mob set ablaze a bus packed with wedding guests who were travelling from Zaria, Kaduna, to Quan Pan LGA in Plateau.
Some of the travellers suffered various degrees of injuries.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by Abubakar Jiddere, NEF’s spokesperson, the group condemned the “brutal massacre of innocent Nigerian travellers”.
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Jiddere described the attack as a chilling reflection of the country’s deepening security crisis and leadership failure.
The forum said it was “shaken to its core” by the premeditated murder.
“This country is bleeding, and it is bleeding from the North,” the statement reads.
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“The obligation to protect life and restore order is not a favour the government grants, it is a constitutional imperative. Failure to act now is not just negligence. It is complicated.
“This premeditated atrocity is not only a crime against humanity but a stark indictment of a nation losing its grip on the most basic duty of governance, the protection of human life.”
The forum highlighted the widespread insecurity across the region, adding that “in the north-west, villages are emptied and lives stolen through mass abductions and killings”.
“In the North-East, terror persists. In the North-Central, random killings and kidnappings have become routine,” the statement added.
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“What was once sporadic unrest has mutated into systemic terror, thriving under the shadow of impunity and governmental inertia.”
