The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday
lamented what it described as the continuous killing of Nigerians in avoidable
bloody clashes in various parts of the country, particularly the preventable
skirmishes between the police and protesters in Abuja last Monday.
The PDP said in a statement signed by its National
Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, that it is heartbroken that the misrule
of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC)
administration has gradually turned various parts of the country, including the
federal capital, into arenas of violence and bloodletting.
"Our party is particularly saddened by the
death of an innocent National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member attached to the
Channels Television, Mr. Precious Owolabi, 23, who was shot during the Monday
bloody clash between the police and protesters in Abuja.
"Indeed, our hearts reach out to his family at
this moment of grief.
"The killing of Owolabi as well as the
avoidable deaths of other compatriots, including a Deputy Commissioner of
Police, is indeed another sad commentary on the irreplaceable losses and
anguish families in Nigeria have continued to bear under the APC government.
"The PDP believes that President Buhari has
not demonstrated adequate capacity and commitment to effectively manage our
national affairs and put measures in place to ensure a stable, united,
equitable and secure Nigeria.
"Also, the APC has shown that it is completely
unpatriotic and only out to destabilise our country for its selfish reasons,"
the statement stated.
The party, therefore, called on all Nigerians to
explore necessary avenues available in a democracy and the 1999 Constitution
(as amended) “to raise a voice of lamentation on the state of our nation under
the misrule of the APC.”
It explained that "certainly, no nation can
thrive in an atmosphere of persistent violence, bloodletting and siege
mentality on the citizenry," noting that had President Buhari indeed given
the smallest consideration to the continuous wise counsel by well-meaning
Nigerian leaders, including former presidents as well as international bodies,
on the security challenges confronting the country, it would have been reduced
to the barest minimum.
The PDP, therefore, charged President Buhari to
listen to the voice of reason, arise and take immediate steps that would put to
an end to the violence ravaging the country.
In the same vein, PDP in the statement said APC
must end all its manifest anti-people tendencies, noxious body language and
acts that promote impunity and lawlessness in the land.
It therefore called on the National Assembly, as true
representatives of the people, to immediately rise to the occasion by taking
urgent legislatives steps to unravel how last Monday protest led to the death
of yet-to-be-ascertained number of Nigerians.
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