An elder statesman, Bashir Tofa has condemned the recent upsurge in the killing of Northerners, especially Fulani in the Southwestern part of the country, warning that if revenge attacks begin, it will be difficult to control.
Mr Tofa, who made the condemnation in a statement he signed on Tuesday and made available to newsmen in Kano, said the killings and maiming of people of Northern extraction is totally unacceptable.
According to him, there is clearly a nefarious plan to initiate a violent crisis that may lead to the destruction of the country.
The statement, titled: ‘A Statement of Serious Concern’, said: “The mayhem we see, almost every day now, of killings and maiming of people of Northern extraction, including especially, the Fulani, in some other parts of the country, is totally unacceptable.
“There is clearly a nefarious plan by the enemies of this potentially great country to initiate a violent crisis that may lead to its destruction.
“Tension is beginning to brew, and if revenge attacks on Southerners begin here in the North, it will be difficult to control.
“Our enemies from within and outside, some well known by our Security Agencies, are more determined than ever to set us against each other, so that we may get to a point of no return when the conflagration begun.
There is no part of this country that is at peace. Local and neighbouring, including foreign terrorist, are busy, fully armed, to cause whatever damage they can inflict on our dear country.”
The elder statement, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take the ongoing insecurity and tribal lynching happening across the country very seriously, saying that there is need for “urgent measures to deal with them without any more delays”.
He said: “I am sure, there is concern at the Presidency and discussions are being held. But, urgent and decisive action is now necessary.
“If any Nigerian will not be allowed to live freely and conduct their lives and businesses in any part of the country without being disturbed or molested or even killed, then no one should be allowed to settle and prosper anywhere else.
“If that were to be the case, then, we have no country. That is how serious it is. And that is what our enemies desire. We must not allow them by our inaction.”
According to him, “those foolish leaders and their stupid hirelings who encourage the expulsion of other Nigerians from their States, should remember that their own indigenes also live in other parts”.
“They must stop, or the law should stop them by all means necessary,” he stressed.