By Aiyeku Timothy
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has stated that the precarious security situation and the economic challenges in the country is a proof of breakdown in governance.
The congress said the country was faced with the challenge of criminals hiding under the cloak of pastoralists to commit all sorts of crime against Nigerians as they lament the current killings and bloodshed.
According to the President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, at the NLC National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, the past two weeks in the nation had witnessed an intense resurgence of terrorism, banditry, kidnap-for-ransom, militancy and resources’ conflicts.
In a communiqué read at the end of the meeting, Wabba was quoted as saying, “There is no day in Nigeria that one form of violent crime or another is not reported. Many Nigerian citizens have been forced by the large scale spread of rural and urban violence to abandon their homes.
“Millions of Nigerians have become refuges in their own land. Many Nigerians yet to flee their homes have literarily become prisoners in their own homes as criminals have forced us into a state of perpetual tension and apprehension.
“Kidnap-for-ransom has been elevated to the status of jungle enterprise. The crime of kidnapping has become no respecter of persons as the low and mighty are all vulnerable. Workers are also victims. Many of us no longer feel safe both at work and home.”
In response to the absence of a firm official response to the clashes between herdsmen and farmers, Wabba said many Nigerians were resorting to self-help.
