FRI, JANUARY 19 2018-theG&BJournal- Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) today expressed deep concerns about the security situation in Nigeria and called for urgent actions from President Muhammadu Buhari and his government to address what they say is ‘’the increasing inter-ethnic violence between pastoral communities and farmers by negotiating a national policy framework protecting the interests of both groups.’’
MEPs, while reviewing human rights situation across the globe, condemned the violence in Nigeria and pointed out some urgent steps that the federal government must take to calm nerves and arrest the nagging herdsmen killing spree that have held the country spellbound for months now.
They urged the Buhari administration to step up the efforts to stop the attacks against Christian and Muslims, provide psychosocial support to the victims of Boko Haram radicalisation, reform the Nigerian state security forces and investigate abuses perpetrated by security officials, such as extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests, and implement a moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to its abolition.
Moreover, MEPs ask the EU Commission and the European External Action Service to monitor the reintegration of Nigerian returnees from Libya, ensuring that the EU funding is spent effectively and keeping the European Parliament informed about the reintegration measures.
The latest in the herdsmen killing spree is the murder of 73 innocent Nigerians in Guma and Logo local government areas in Benue State, Nigeria. The herdsmen attacks took a riveting dimension in 2011 and since then an estimated 2000 innocent souls have been hacked to death in various parts of the country.
