Insecurity: Babangida, Obasanjo call for urgent actions

Former heads of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida leaders issued a rare joint statement on Sunday calling for talks to end a deadly insurgency by Islamist group Boko Haram, warning the violence could put the nation’s unity at risk.
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, who have been rivals in the past, said in a joint statement that the killings had become “unbearable” and had led to a nation “gripped by a regime of fear”.
“Unfolding events in our dear motherland, Nigeria, over the last few years are threatening to unravel the nearly a century old labour of our founding fathers and subsequent generations in building a strong, united, peaceful nation …,” the statement said.
Without mentioning Boko Haram by name, they called for “community involvement” in addition to security measures to resolve the crisis, urging efforts from local governments, religious leaders and grassroots organisations.
The statement also said that “for us, and we believe for millions of other Nigerians, the continued unity of this nation is not only priceless but non-negotiable.”
Boko Haram’s insurgency has left hundreds dead since mid-2009. Its attacks have grown increasingly deadly and sophisticated, moving from drive-by shootings to homemade explosives and suicide bombings.
The insurgency has been focused in the northern part of Nigeria.
Obasanjo, president from 1999 to 2007, is a Christian from the country’s southwest, while Babangida, who ruled from 1985-1993, is a Muslim from north central Nigeria.