Chidi Samuel|
A former military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, on Saturday called on all leaders and elder statesmen in Nigeria to come together for an urgent meeting on ways to end the killings across the country.
The elder statesman who spoke in Owerri, the Imo State capital, when he visited Governor Rochas Okorocha ahead of the Nigeria Prays Group’s prayer rally in the South-East condemned the rate at which innocent lives are lost including those of the Catholic priests murdered in Benue on Tuesday.
He said, “Without Peace, certainly, we won’t be able to grow any further. And this is what has been retarding Nigeria recently.”
“Let us continue to pray but let us also play our own part to ensure that we are doing whatever we can to achieve the peace.”
Beyond calling for a meeting of leaders to find solutions to the issue, General Gowon also called for continued prayers for peace to reign in the country.
In his response, Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, said Nigerian must view the killings in Benue and other parts of the country as a national problem and rise to the challenge to tackle it irrespective of political ethnic and religious differences.
“It started from Boko Haram, to herdsmen, to Niger Delta (militancy), to kidnapping. And his calls for serious concern, especially the recent one happening in Benue State. We don’t seem to be finding any solution – political or otherwise. Rather, we are all busy condemning the act,” Okorocha said.