Nigeria Lost Over 2000 Citizens To Worsening Insecurity In 2021 — CSOs

The Joint Action Civil Society Coalition, comprising 125
non-governmental organisations, has said that over 2000 Nigerians
lost their lives in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of the
worsening insecurity across the country.

The coalition berated the regime of the President, Major General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for its inability to curtail the
disturbing security challenges confronting the nation

The CSOs stated this in a joint statement titled, “State of the
Nation: A Call to President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the bleeding
and take action to end the carnage,” made available to our
correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.

Some of the CSOs which signed the statement are Civil Society
Coalition on Sustainable Development, Civil Society Legislative
Advocacy Centre, Community Women’s Rights Foundation and Yiaga
Africa.

They also included Gender Development Initiative, Nigerian
Feminists Forum, Women Youths and Children Advancement Programme
and the Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy &
Development, among several others.

They called on all Nigerians to register their displeasure with
the state of affairs across the country by participating in a
series of mass actions from Monday the 26th of May 2021.

They also encouraged Nigerians to participate in solemn
assemblies across the country to commemorate the 4th National Day
of mourning and remembrance of victims of mass atrocities on May
28th 2021.

They equally asked all citizens to boycott all Democracy Day
activities on May 29, 2021, in protest of the deplorable state of
the nation’s democracy.

Part of the statement read, “Following its sharp increase of 43
per cent in mass atrocities in 2020, Nigeria has continued to
experience a decline in security across the nation.

“In the first quarter of 2021(January to March), we recorded an
all-time quarterly high of almost 2000 fatalities from mass
atrocities incidents across the country.

“This week, across the six geopolitical zones, there were
escalated combustions of violence resulting in even more
deaths.”

The CSOs noted that they highlighted the various forms of
insecurities, which were leading to the loss of lives across the
country, in its last joint statement issued in February 2021.

Some of them, according to the CSOs, included the unending war
in the North-East, and attacks on peaceful protesters by security
agents while terrorists carry out mass murder, rape, maiming and
kidnapping of Nigerians including women and children.

The groups noted with concern that terrorists were being granted
‘amnesty’ and got paid by the government.

“This is tantamount to funding and supporting terrorists,
encouraging murder and the decimation of Nigeria’s gallant troops
and amounts to treason against the Nigerian State and people,” they
added.

The statement also cited cases of terrorist herder attacks on
unarmed farming communities and reprisal attacks in the face of
government inaction and failure to bring the terrorist herdsmen and
their funders to justice, as causes of loss of innocent lives.

Other instances they cited were, “Large scale terrorist attacks
in the North-West irresponsibly tagged by the government as
‘banditry’ in a bid to downplay their criminality.”

They also included, “Industrial-scale kidnappings all across the
country, extrajudicial killings by State Security agents in various
forms, inter-ethnic violence; and menace of political cult gangs
and ethnic militia,” among others.

The CSOs noted that in their February statement, “We had also
demanded that where the President fails to fulfil his
constitutional duties as stated above, that he steps aside, or,
that the National Assembly initiates impeachment proceedings
against him on grounds of gross misconduct as provided for in
Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.”

They added, “We are appalled to note that despite our
strongly-worded statement, President Buhari’s government has failed
to heed our call to fulfil his role as Commander in Chief of the
Armed Forces and Nigeria’s democratically elected President.

“We are therefore left with no other option than to take action
to drive home our call to the government.

“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians to register their
displeasure with the state of affairs across the country by
participating in a series of mass actions from Monday the 26th of
May 2021.

“Nigerians should participate in solemn assemblies across the
country to commemorate the 4th National Day of Mourning and
Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities on May 28th 2021 and
boycott all Democracy Day activities on May 29, 2021, in protest of
the deplorable state of our democracy.

“We again call on Muhammadu Buhari-led national government and
the state governments to rise up to their constitutional duties as
enshrined in S14(2)(b), to ensure the security and welfare of all
Nigerians, and pull the nation back from the path of
destruction.”

The Joint Action Civil Society Coalition, comprising 125
non-governmental organisations, has said that over 2000 Nigerians
lost their lives in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of the
worsening insecurity across the country.

The coalition berated the regime of the President, Major General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for its inability to curtail the
disturbing security challenges confronting the nation

The CSOs stated this in a joint statement titled, “State of the
Nation: A Call to President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the bleeding
and take action to end the carnage,” made available to our
correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.

Some of the CSOs which signed the statement are Civil Society
Coalition on Sustainable Development, Civil Society Legislative
Advocacy Centre, Community Women’s Rights Foundation and Yiaga
Africa.

They also included Gender Development Initiative, Nigerian
Feminists Forum, Women Youths and Children Advancement Programme
and the Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy &
Development, among several others.

They called on all Nigerians to register their displeasure with
the state of affairs across the country by participating in a
series of mass actions from Monday the 26th of May 2021.

They also encouraged Nigerians to participate in solemn
assemblies across the country to commemorate the 4th National Day
of mourning and remembrance of victims of mass atrocities on May
28th 2021.

They equally asked all citizens to boycott all Democracy Day
activities on May 29, 2021, in protest of the deplorable state of
the nation’s democracy.

Part of the statement read, “Following its sharp increase of 43
per cent in mass atrocities in 2020, Nigeria has continued to
experience a decline in security across the nation.

“In the first quarter of 2021(January to March), we recorded an
all-time quarterly high of almost 2000 fatalities from mass
atrocities incidents across the country.

“This week, across the six geopolitical zones, there were
escalated combustions of violence resulting in even more
deaths.”

The CSOs noted that they highlighted the various forms of
insecurities, which were leading to the loss of lives across the
country, in its last joint statement issued in February 2021.

Some of them, according to the CSOs, included the unending war
in the North-East, and attacks on peaceful protesters by security
agents while terrorists carry out mass murder, rape, maiming and
kidnapping of Nigerians including women and children.

The groups noted with concern that terrorists were being granted
‘amnesty’ and got paid by the government.

“This is tantamount to funding and supporting terrorists,
encouraging murder and the decimation of Nigeria’s gallant troops
and amounts to treason against the Nigerian State and people,” they
added.

The statement also cited cases of terrorist herder attacks on
unarmed farming communities and reprisal attacks in the face of
government inaction and failure to bring the terrorist herdsmen and
their funders to justice, as causes of loss of innocent lives.

Other instances they cited were, “Large scale terrorist attacks
in the North-West irresponsibly tagged by the government as
‘banditry’ in a bid to downplay their criminality.”

They also included, “Industrial-scale kidnappings all across the
country, extrajudicial killings by State Security agents in various
forms, inter-ethnic violence; and menace of political cult gangs
and ethnic militia,” among others.

The CSOs noted that in their February statement, “We had also
demanded that where the President fails to fulfil his
constitutional duties as stated above, that he steps aside, or,
that the National Assembly initiates impeachment proceedings
against him on grounds of gross misconduct as provided for in
Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.”

They added, “We are appalled to note that despite our
strongly-worded statement, President Buhari’s government has failed
to heed our call to fulfil his role as Commander in Chief of the
Armed Forces and Nigeria’s democratically elected President.

“We are therefore left with no other option than to take action
to drive home our call to the government.

“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians to register their
displeasure with the state of affairs across the country by
participating in a series of mass actions from Monday the 26th of
May 2021.

“Nigerians should participate in solemn assemblies across the
country to commemorate the 4th National Day of Mourning and
Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities on May 28th 2021 and
boycott all Democracy Day activities on May 29, 2021, in protest of
the deplorable state of our democracy.

“We again call on Muhammadu Buhari-led national government and
the state governments to rise up to their constitutional duties as
enshrined in S14(2)(b), to ensure the security and welfare of all
Nigerians, and pull the nation back from the path of
destruction.”