More condemnation trails Abuja-Kaduna train attack

From Okwe Obi, Abuja

Accord party has described as “barbaric and condemnable” the recent attack on an Abuja bound train along Abuja-Kaduna railway.

This is even as it challenged security agencies to up their ante in protection of lives and property of Nigerians.

The party’s National Legal Adviser, Maxwell Mgbudem, in a statement yesterday, said the party sees the attack by the bandits, which left nine persons dead, others wounded and kidnapped, as one too many to be wished away.

While it sympathised with victims and families of the bereaved, Mgbudem wished those injured speedy recovery, adding that masterminds of the dastardly act should have a rethink and imbibe good conscience and human sympathy.

He bemoaned the rising spate of killings across the country, adding that time “has come for the security architecture of Nigeria to be restructured, with a view to adapt it in sync with the modern day realities of efficient and effective protection of citizens.”

He pointed out that life has become brutal and short in Nigeria, which it feared would lead to a catastrophic end if governments at all levels fail to rise up to the urgent call of the moment and embark on massive job creation and investment in intelligence gathering.

According to him, “the party also admonished the security agencies to be rather proactive than reactionary in tackling the menace of banditry, adding that the perilous situation at hand demands synergy and intelligence sharing between the various security formations in the country.

“Similarly, it charged citizens not to lose hope in the ability of the country to overcome its present security and economic challenges, but to pray more in seeking God’s intervention, especially in this holy month of Lent and Ramadan.

“While expressing confidence in the capacity of the armed forces to defeat the insurgency and banditry bedeviling the country, Accord promised that the party will bring sweeping changes in the security arrangement of the country when it emerges victorious in the 2023 presidential election.

“To this end, the party urged Nigerians to vote massively for the Accord candidate in the 2023 Presidential election if the country must witness a genuine transformation in all aspects of her socio-economic and political life.”