The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has condemned the tragic incident that led to the loss of 23 travellers at Rukuba Road in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The forum spoke in a statement by its Head, Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, on Sunday.
While describing it as barbaric and senseless, the statement issued in Abuja said the killing had all the colourations of several others like it in which locals in particular parts of Nigeria had become inhospitable and unwelcoming to other Nigerians living in or passing through their domains.
It said: “These dastardly actions of Nigeria’s once peaceful locals which have resulted in unwarranted and needless deaths diminish us all as a people and pulls our country down to the deepest recesses of the absence of civilisation.
“They also cause all kinds of reprisal killings and injurious interactions that does nobody any good.
“The Forum views with extreme disgust the horrible and thoughtless loss of precious lives and declare unequivocally that it must stop forthwith.”
The NGF called on the country’s security organisations to fish out all those involved and bring them forward to face the full wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent to those who are contemplating similar action.
It insisted that no human life deserves to be wasted on any ground, be it religious or ethnic, or even on the frivolous altar of mistaken identity.
The NGF hoped that Nigerians would desist from taking the law into their own hands so that the country could once again become a safe place for all.
The forum called on all aggrieved ethnic nationalities and their militia to avoid needless killings by always seeking law enforcement assistance and legal redress.
