The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) says the killings in Benue State has the capacity to erode public confidence in the nation-state, as well as negatively impact the country’s image before international community.
The observation is contained in a statement issued by the union’s national secretary, Achike Chude.
“In the past few days, the world has been horrified by the killings of over a hundred innocent citizens of Benue State in Nigeria.
“These killings, coming on the heels of other violent tragedies that have led to the gruesome loss of lives have the capacity to erode public confidence in the nation-state, and negatively impact the international image of Nigeria,” it observed.
The statement noted that Nigeria needs her citizens to believe in her capacity to keep them safe and secure, stating that this is the most basic of all enshrined responsibilities of the state.
The union noted that in the past 15 years, various governments across political lines have struggled ineffectively to fulfill this crucial obligation.
“As we have maintained in previous lamentations on the killings of our peoples from the north, east, south, and west of our geopolitical space, we refuse to believe that the Nigerian State has lost the ability to protect both her territories and her peoples. We refuse to believe that a country that sacrificed the lives of her soldiers to ensure lasting peace abroad in Liberia and Sierra Leone now lacks the will and ability to defend the homestead,” the statement further observed.
The union described the killings in Benue as one too many, stating that it must provoke sufficient national outrage to galvanize nationwide sentiments of defiance and challenge to galvanize every resource of the state against all killers in our country.
While the Nigeria Union of Journalists grieves with the government and people of Benue State over the killings, it added that it is ever ready to work with the Federal Government and the security agencies in any meaningful and lawful capacity to bring the madness to a halt.
