Northern Elders To Buhari: Our People Can No Longer Travel Without Being Kidnapped

Elders from northern Nigeria have lamented incessant reports of killings and kidnappings in the region, saying the worsening insecurity situation called for dismissal of the country’s service chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development, the northern elders said the Sultan of Sokoto’s recent bold statement on the deteriorating security situation in the north was commendable.

The Sultan, Muhammadu Sa’ad’ Abubakar III, has described the north as the worst place to be in the country due to activities of bandits.

“We most respectfully commend the Sultan of Sokoto, our father, for stating the true position of things in the North, as it concerns insecurity. We have said the state of insecurity has reached a point where our farmers can hardly access their farms, even as travellers on busy highways can no longer guarantee their safe arrival without being kidnapped,” the northern elders said in a statement by the groups National Coordinator, Zana Goni and women leader, Mario Bichi.

The northern elders’ reaction came amidst reports that Boko Haram insurgents had slaughtered 43 rice farmers at Zabarmari village in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State on Saturday.