ACN to Boko Haram: It is time for a ceasefire!

ACN to Boko Haram: It is time for a ceasefire!

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) the country’s main opposition party, has strongly condemned Friday's deadly bombing of the UN House in Abuja, calling it one attack too many and urging Boko Haram, which reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing, to immediately stop its attacks.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims as well as the United Nations, saying no grievance can justify such a dastardly act against innocent people.

National Security

It also repeated its call for a National Stakeholders Security Meeting to help find a lasting solution to the worsening insecurity of lives and property in the country.
ACN assured the government that the party is ready and willing to cooperate with the government on the issue of national security.

It urged President Goodluck Jonathan to look beyond government resources in seeking a way out of the current situation that is capable of scaring off investors from Nigeria and putting the country on the travel advisory list of many countries around the world, thus dimming the country's economic prospects.

Constructive engagement

''When we called for some form of engagement with Boko Haram, many criticized the idea. But we will like to repeat here that nothing short of a constructive engagement with the sect will give an insight into whatever its grievances are.
For those who are more fixated on whether or not members of the group should be granted amnesty, we say engagement is not the same as amnesty”, ACN said.

The party said it was indeed very worried at the ease with which Boko Haram has penetrated military barracks, police headquarters and now the UN building, all of them supposedly well fortified.

PR/Iheanacho/Ekata