The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), rose from its 38th meeting of its Board in Abuja on Wednesday, April 15, declaring that Nigeria’s worsening security situation has escalated to a “state of war”.
The ACF therefore tasked the federal government to as a matter of urgent national concern, adopt extraordinary measures to address the crisis.
The Forum which stated these against the backdrop of the killing of six soldiers and a woman in fresh Boko Haram’s attack on a military formation at Mussa community in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, stressed that Nigeria’s security challenges had gone beyond insurgency, banditry and communal clashes to a full-scale war that is seriously threatening the survival of the country.
A communique issued at the end of the meeting which was presided over by the Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, the ACF noted that the scale, persistence and human cost of violence demand a fundamental shift in national priorities.
Other northern leaders that attended the meeting included former President of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, former Head of Service of the Federation, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed; former Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Yusufu Buratai; former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed D. Abubakar, and among others.
The ACF stressed that the situation must now be treated as an overriding national emergency, just as it lamented the hundreds of thousands of Nigerians that had been killed or displaced across states such as Borno, Plateau, Benue, Niger and Kwara, adding that the casualties also included members of the armed forces.
It noted that the humanitarian toll of the crisis has left families shattered, livelihoods destroyed and communities traumatised, while the nation’s economy continued to suffer severe setbacks.
The ACF also noted that insecurity was crippling agricultural activities, particularly in northern Nigeria, disrupting supply chains and worsening inflation, stressing that redirecting national resources toward security is not a diversion from economic development, but a prerequisite for it.
It therefore called on the federal government to adopt what a “war-time approach,” including the temporary suspension or scaling down of non-essential projects in order to concentrate resources on tackling insecurity.
The ACF emphasised that while development remained important, restoring security must take precedence, saying that Nigeria presently stands at a critical crossroads.
According to the ACF; “The escalating security crisis threatens not just lives, but the very stability and future of the nation.
Until Nigerians could live, work and travel without fear, meaningful national progress would remain unattainable”.
It therefore called for a decisive and comprehensive action to secure the country without further delay.
