Mark
President of the Senate, David Mark, on Sunday, described the level of insecurity in the country as “intolerable”.
In a statement, Mark particularly flayed the killings of policemen in Nassarawa State, saying the action was unacceptable.
He said, “The situation has degenerated to an intolerable level and exposes everybody to danger. The continued loss of lives and properties cannot be a way of life”.
Mark noted that unless Nigerians tackled the security problem headlong, the perpetrators might overrun the country.
Describing the killing of policemen as unacceptable, Mark said, “Nobody, no nation, no matter how weak, would live to accept such heinous crime.
“What is happening to us as a people is strange and condemnable. How did we degenerate to this level where everyone is a brother’s hater instead of being our brothers’ keepers? The situation calls for soul-searching. We must re-examine ourselves. We must look inwards.”
He also canvassed a better working relationship among security agencies, saying such cooperation would plug security lapses and yield better result.
He said, “We must remove sentiments and be able to separate issues from crimes or criminalities. Offenders must be seen to be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.”
He stated that the siege Nigerians were subjected to, following violent crimes in the country, were avoidable “if we put our houses in order”.
He noted that there could be foreign collaborators, adding that the foreigners would not succeed if there were no “willing tools” internally.
Mark urged aggrieved persons or groups to explore established channels, including reaching out to the National Assembly, to seek redress instead of resorting to violence.
According to him, the state of insecurity has made life uncomfortable for Nigerians and reduced sacred human life to something insignificant.
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Democracy has condemned the killings.
The CD stated this in a statement by its President, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, on Sunday.
It said, “The high rate of casualties on the part of policemen witnessed in just one week has not been recorded in most of the wars fought in recent history which confirms the notion that Nigeria is presently at war.
“The vulnerability of security forces to the seeming superior power of terrorists removes whatever confidence the civilian population has in the state to guarantee security of lives and property and by extension a clear demonstration of the failure of the state.
“One of the key characteristics of a failed state is the lack of capacity or unwillingness of the state to secure the lives of its citizens. It becomes more direr when the forces the state should use to protect itself now become preys in the hands of deviants.
“It is needless pointing to the government the implications of a poorly motivated, harassed, ill-equipped and heavily assaulted security forces and the health of any polity.”
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