Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has urged the Federal Government to declare a “national war” on insecurity, warning that the scale of violence and killings in Nigeria now resembles that of countries in open conflict.
Obi’s statement followed reports that over 100 people were killed in violent attacks across Borno, Sokoto, Katsina, and Edo states over the weekend. The incidents included the killing of eight officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the abduction of a Chinese national in Edo, kidnappings on the Benin–Iyere–Oluku road, and the killing of five soldiers along with 58 civilians in Borno.
“When over 100 Nigerians are killed in a single weekend, our casualty figures rival those of countries officially at war,” Obi wrote on X. “This is no longer business as usual. It is time to mobilise every resource, every agency, and every state to reclaim our nation from lawlessness.”
The former Anambra State governor condoled with families of slain security personnel and civilians, insisting that their killers must be swiftly brought to justice. He criticised government officials for travelling abroad amid worsening insecurity, saying investors would not be attracted to a country perceived as a war zone.
Obi warned that insecurity poses the greatest threat to Nigeria’s survival and urged urgent, coordinated action to prevent the nation from sliding into full-scale anarchy.
