Sokoto Governor says killings in Nigeria unacceptable, failure of leadership

Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, has condemned the widespread killings of people in the country as unacceptable and a result of leadership failure.

The governor said this in reaction to the wave of killings that have enveloped the country with close to two thousand people estimated to have died in 2018 alone.

In a statement, Tambuwal lamented that the situation has gotten so bad that even security agents have become vulnerable targets of criminals, leading to the needless waste of life everywhere.

Tambuwal said the killings have shown that Nigeria's current security architecture is not working and needs "comprehensive overhaul".

He said, "Indeed, the growing spate of mindless shedding of innocent blood, especially of policemen and other security personnel on their lawful duty posts, has brought a new dimension to the reprehensible state of insecurity in the country.

"The question from every law abiding citizen today is:, 'Who will protect us, when even those constitutionally charged with the responsibility of protecting our lives and property have, themselves, become vulnerable targets of criminals?' 'Where shall we run to for protection, when the institutions of State put in place to protect us are being progressively dismantled by opportunistic criminality and the trained personnel are also on the run?'

"It bears repeating for me to state here that Nigeria's security architecture and the strategies currently adopted and deployed for national security, if any, need a comprehensive overhaul. It is not working.

"The needless waste of life everywhere, both those of trained security personnel and ordinary citizens, is a drain on the nation's resources and an unacceptable diminution of our valuable human capital.

"Every policeman or soldier is someone's father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt or friend. The number and frequency of deaths is undermining our humanity, making us less sensitive to the gravity of the situation we are in today and also creating a new generation of Nigerians, who may get accustomed to inhuman acts as the norm.

"The worst part of all this is that these deaths are avoidable and the killings preventable. It boils down, at the end of the day, to failure of leadership. Nigeria cannot progress and be part of a 21st Century forward looking world by creating new batches of mourners every other day. This is not the way to go. That is not what Nigerians voted for in 2015."

The governor said Nigeria needs to stop the killings so that there can be enough to build a united, politically stable and economically prosperous society.