Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has called on the Federal Government to do more to end attacks and killings allegedly by criminal herdsmen in parts of the country.
Soyinka made the call in a statement in Lagos on Sunday.
He said recurring cases of alleged criminal herdsmen unleashing terror on communities leaving in their trail tears and blood required lasting interventions.
He said there were so many of the criminals hiding in the forests which needed to be tracked down by security agencies.
Soyinka called for justice and restitution for victims of herdsmen attacks, saying that would give them some succour.
“We must go beyond arresting a token of herdsmen caught with arms as there are still hundreds of them in the forests.
“It is not enough to back the anti-open grazing law, so late in the day, but we shall leave that for later.
“Right now, the violated and the dispossessed demand restitution and with no further delay or subterfuge.
“All available forces should be deployed to right the hideous, unprecedented wrong that has left the nation drowning in blood. We simply cannot continue one day longer to watch this forceful feeding of human blood,” he said.
It is not enough to back the anti-open grazing laws, so late in the day, but we shall leave that for later. Right now, the violated and dispossessed demand restitution, and with no further delay or subterfuge. All available forces should be deployed to right a hideous, unprecedented wrong that has left the nation drowning in blood – we simply cannot continue one day longer to endure this forceful feeding of human blood.
“The plain expression is “ethnic cleansing” and we must not beat around the bush. The shade of Rwanda hangs over the nation. Afterwards, we can move into reckoning. This spells meticulous investigation, identifying the high-placed sponsors within this nation, some of whom have launched mercenary units to intensify carnage and chaos in order to stem the stride of Nemesis closing in on them for past criminalities, and the cascade of corrupt revelations.”
He also called on the agencies to track down and identify the sponsors of the criminals in order to curb their activities.
Soyinka wished “those who laboured for humanity ” a Happy May Day, adding that he was optimistic that the solutions to the security challenge would come in no distant time.
The killing must stop
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