Insecurity In Nigeria: Government Not Doing Enough, Muslim/Christian Partnership Says

The Inter-faith Activity & Partnership For Peace (IFAPP), a national platform for interfaith dialogue among Muslim and Christian clerics and leaders, has strongly condemned last Monday’s Nyanya Bus Park bombing, citing provisional figures released by the Minister of Health of 236 victims and 72 deaths.
“This latest act of mass murder clearly shows that the Nigerian government is not doing enough to protect public places where large numbers of ordinary Nigerians routinely gather,” the group said in a statement signed on Monday by Mallam Nuruddeen Lemu & Rev. Fr. George Ehusani.
“In addition to the tragedy of the frequent loss of innocent lives, the persistence of this high level of insecurity is likely to lead ordinary Nigerians to take matters into their own hands through acts of vigilante and jungle justice which would further worsen the state of intergroup relations and tension in the land,” IFAPP warned.
It called on the federal government and its security agencies not only to investigate the deplorable incident and make those responsible, especially their sponsors, to fully face the weight of the law, but to take more effective measures to prevent them.
“The current situation in which a hugely disproportionate percentage of the security forces are deployed to protect the few members of the political and business elite while the security needs of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians are left unattended to is patently callous, unjust, and ultimately a threat to the peace and safety of everyone including the governing elite,” IFAPP warned.
The group also condemned the attacks on Government Girls Secondary Schools in Borno and Bauchi States a week ago, warning that the brazen attacks on the girl child and enslavement of Nigeria’s daughters must be stopped.  It described as inexplicable the fact that citizens of Nigeria can be under such frequent attacks by gangs of terrorists freely moving about and sustaining their evil operations for hours unintercepted by the security forces, and urged the government to more effectively protect the lives of all Nigerians as its fundamental responsibility.
“We strongly urge Boko Haram (and its supporters, financiers and sympathizers) to put an immediate stop to all attacks on defenseless and innocent Nigerians as such actions cannot produce any positive outcomes or lead to the resolution of any of their grievances,” the statement said.
IFAPP said it would continue to work hard at both national and sub-national levels for the peaceful coexistence of religious groups in Nigeria through an integrated set of educational and advocacy programmes, projects and initiatives that will enlighten adherents of both faiths, diffuse tension, and promote peace.