Northern govs meet over security crisis

Posted by admin Governors Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

THE Northern Governors’ Forum has announced that it will hold an emergency meeting to proffer lasting solutions to the security challenges facing the country.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, said the northern governors had agreed to move in to halt the killings in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Governor Aliyu, who returned to Nigeria on Tuesday morning, after performing the lesser hajj (umrah) in Saudi Arabia, said he was alarmed at the fresh fighting in the erstwhile peaceful state, declaring that the bloodbath must stop now.

“I am horrified at the new wave of senseless killings in and around Jos, the Plateau State capital, beginning from the clash between Muslims and Christians at the Rukuba area of Jos which left 17 persons dead and several others injured.

“Since then, targeted killings have spread to villages around the state capital, taking a terrible toll on the people of Plateau State. This development is condemnable, reprehensible and, therefore, unacceptable.”

Although Aliyu did not give a specific date on when the meeting would be held, he said the crisis in Plateau State was an emergency and would be treated as such.

He said he was already consulting with his colleagues with a view to convening a meeting in the next two weeks.

Aliyu said the meeting had become expedient in order to break the cycle of violence and to proffer lasting solutions to the sectarian crises rocking the state.

-Tribunewp_posts