Patience of north running out – ACF warns over rising insecurity

The warning came after the group’s 78th National Executive
Committee meeting held in Kaduna.

ACF Chairman, Mamman Osuman, said the North could no longer
remain quiet while lives and resources were being lost.

“This is not a time for silence. Our security keeps
deteriorating, our natural resources are being exploited, and environmental
issues are increasing. The North must rise and stand together to defend
itself,” he said.

Osuman lamented the daily killings across the region, noting
that children, women, men, and the elderly had fallen victim to floods,
banditry, terrorism, and other disasters.

He urged northern leaders and citizens to reflect, unite,
and pray for peace.

Speaking to the BBC after the meeting, ACF adviser Bashir
Hayatu Gentile said the group had reviewed the North’s challenges and concluded
that urgent action was required.

“These problems are real, and the government must be
compelled to act. Nothing is more disturbing than the insecurity—kidnappings
and killings everywhere. The North must unite and pressure government to do
more,” he said.

Gentile added that Osuman’s message to the Federal
Government was clear: the patience of the North is “running out” and new
strategies are needed to stop the destruction.

The ACF also expressed concern over a recent Amnesty
International report, which revealed that more than 10,000 people had been
killed in Northern Nigeria in just two years of President Bola Tinubu’s
administration.

According to Gentile, the killings are accompanied by
frequent mass abductions and village raids. He cited the attack in Malumfashi,
Katsina State, where gunmen stormed a mosque during dawn prayers, killing and
burning worshippers. “The report said 27 people died, but the actual number was
higher,” he noted.

The Forum criticized the silence of government officials on
Amnesty’s findings, saying their refusal to challenge the figures shows how
serious the crisis is.

“Since the report was released, no one in government has
denied it. That is why ACF insists Nigeria’s security system must be completely
restructured,” Gentile concluded