Funmi Olaitan, Ibadan

Towards putting a stop to killings of innocent Nigerians by herdsmen in some parts of the country despite all security measures being put in place to check the menace by the federal government, Anglican Church, Nigeria, on Monday, called on the Federal Government to seek foreign assistance.

Archbishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese, Mr Segun Okubadejo, who made the call in his address at the Second Session of the Seventh Synod of St. Paul Anglican Church, Yemetu, Ibadan, said shedding of innocent blood is against the law of God and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and must not be accepted by Nigerians.

He said international assistance is necessary to help Nigerian military in the campaign against insurgence with a view to protecting lives and property in the land, describing current security challenges in the country as very worrisome.

According to him, since the killings started some years back, Nigeria has now become a theatre of bloodbath, and a country that eats her people.

The Clergy man recalled with nostalgia that Boko Haram insurgency has been on for almost ten years and until recently herdsmen joined the killer terror group and worsened the situation.

Okubadejo stated that excesses of the terrorist groups have resulted in the loss of lives of people across the country, especially in North East, Benue, Kaduna, Jos, and other parts of the country.

He then advised that if the government is truly incapacitated to deal with the situations, help should be sought from countries with the capacity to deal with the situations on hand.

He said, “In the meanwhile, the military should be told in clear terms by the Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to always apply the rules of engagement in their operations and to endeavour to clamp down on all criminally minded organisations in the country, especially killer herdsmen that have done a lot of harm and havoc to this nation and her citizens. The Federal Government should not be seen to have been compromised, or seen to be confirming the rumour of complicity either by action or inaction on security matters."

While allaying fears on the rumoured complicity of the Federal Government in the killings, the cleric drew the attention of the Federal Government to the need to ensure fairness to different ethnic groups across the country in the distribution of public offices, adding that this could be one of the reasons for tension and agitations in the land.