A TIME TO PUT UNITY AND PEACE ABOVE ALL..... Aregbesola Counsels Nigerians

"There will be no tolerance for any act or behaviour capable of jeopardising law and order and security of lives and property in any part of Nigeria".

The Federal Government has implored all citizens in the country to exercise restraint and pursue active efforts on how to use the tools of constructive dialogue, good neighbourliness and the primacy of peace-building as ways of dousing anger and resentment that can only lead to anarchy.

This, is in light of the simmering tension in Ondo and (northern regions of) Oyo states.

In a statement signed by the Honourable Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola noted that the regrettable incidences of heightening ethnic and religious tension in our country are, in part, are the outcomes of political and economic strains that have persistently defined our land and continue to exacerbate security challenges.

This, the Minister say, is making the task of development more traumatic.

According to Aregbesola, "the Federal Government is keenly aware and genuinely concerned about these complications that, sadly, have been sharpened by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic through the growth of anxieties about issues of life and livelihood in our communities".

"The Federal Government is having a holistic look at the challenges and will stop at nothing to bring lasting peace, security and amity to all our communities", he disclosed. 

"There will be no tolerance for any act or behaviour capable of jeopardising law and order and security of lives and property in any part of Nigeria".

"Therefore, as the government is fashioning long term answers to address these problems, it urges citizens to appreciate that self-help and lawlessness cannot offer a path to sustainable solution. It can only lead to greater pain as well as costly human and material losses and disruption of the already difficult task of devising responses that will produce tangible peace and development in the country".

"The Federal Government is moving in quickly to bring state, community, security, traditional institutions, religious organizations and youth groups into a purposeful dialogue that will bring effective resolutions to the problem within constitutional and legal frameworks", the Interior Minister stated.

"Let us all try to be our brother’s keeper and work towards building a peaceful community that works for all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and other forms of differences", he advised.