By Dennis Agbo

ENUGU- NZUKO Umunna, an Igbo think-thank that partners stakeholders for development, has warned Nigeria to arrest the present drift to lawlessness, which it said if not checked could make the country witness worst war and genocide stories that were experienced by Rwanda and Burundi in 1994.

Igbo

Nzuko Umunna gave the warning following last weekend’s killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin by suspected Fulani herdsmen and all the comments it has generated since then.

The group made up of Igbo intelligentsia at home and in Diaspora asked federal government to quickly stem the descent into lawlessness; overhaul the Nigeria’s security architecture and design an effective framework to arrest the rampaging criminality threatening the unity and continued existence of the country.

In a statement issued yesterday, coordinator and secretary of the group, Ngozi Odumuko and Paschal Mbanefo, respectively, said they received with shock the killing of Mrs. Olakunrin, daughter of nonagenarian Afenifere Leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti by suspected herdsmen.

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“We commiserate with Pa Fasoranti over this tragic incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the entire Yoruba nation. It is instructive that even at a ripe old age; Pa Fasoranti is still at the barricades battling for the soul of Nigeria. It is therefore very ironic and troubling that the 94-year-old elder statesman is made to suffer this heartbreak in his old age. No Nigerian deserves to go through this.

“We urge President Muhammadu Buhari to take immediate steps to arrest Nigeria’s descent to lawlessness and speedily bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.

“We warn that if the current spate of insecurity is not tackled with the decisiveness it deserves, the country risks being plunged into a cycle of violence that may make Rwanda and Burundi seem like a child’s play.

“The rising spate of insecurity in Nigeria is highly unacceptable. Nigerians are no longer safe in their homes and in the streets. This is bound to scare away investors. Investment thrives in an environment that places premium on security and law and order.

“We urge the Federal Government to overhaul the entire security architecture and design an effective framework to arrest the rampaging criminality that is threatening the unity and continued existence of the country,” the group stated.

It further bemoaned Nigeria’s situation at the crossroads of uncontrolled insecurity situation and the ill-advised RUGA scheme which it observed has been overheating the polity and must be scrapped without delay.

The group said that it will require political will at the highest level of governance to stem the unremitting descent into lawlessness, stressing that government must show in clear terms that it has the capacity and sagacity to navigate the slippery slopes.

“We urge Nigerians to be more vigilant and to give the government every support in order to commence the process of rebuilding the country into a united and prosperous nation devoid of banditry, cattle rustling and all forms of criminality,” it suggested.