Peter Obi Demands State of Emergency on Insecurity

The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has raised alarm over the worsening state of insecurity in Nigeria, warning that the nation is “bleeding” and can no longer afford to treat the crisis as routine.

In a statement posted on his official X handle on Sunday, Obi described the spate of killings across the country as evidence that Nigeria is in the grip of a full-blown security emergency. His remarks followed a violent weekend in which eight personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were killed in Edo State, while five soldiers and 58 civilians were feared dead in Borno State.

The former Anambra State governor, while condoling the bereaved families, urged the government to act swiftly in arresting the perpetrators and bringing them to justice.

“When over 100 Nigerians are killed in a single weekend, our casualty figures rival those of countries officially at war. This is no longer business as usual,” Obi wrote. “It is time to declare a national war on insecurity — to mobilise every resource, every agency, every state, and to suspend all distractions while we begin the process of reclaiming our nation from lawlessness.”