L
LequteMan
Guest
Abuja- The Director-General of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Mike Omeri, at a news forum on Wednesday has urged Boko Haram insurgents to embrace peace by stopping the incessant killing of innocent citizens.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to be allowed to practise their own beliefs rather than being forced to accept the way of life of the insurgents.
"For Boko Haram, the message is simple and not just Boko Haram and any other Nigerian who exhibits such tendencies, what we say is:’ preserve the sanctity of human lives’.
"Uplift your country and persuasively tell citizens what is it that you believe in that is ideal and you want them to understand and follow you peacefully and rightly.
"But once you kill them at the end of the day you are not able to enforce among a colony of people what you want because they are dead by the time you finish.
"It is either that you live alone in isolation without the people that you wanted to train in the first place to think like you.
"Or meaningfully persuade them to understand the motivation behind the tendencies that you have adopted.”
He said that Nigeria was losing both human and material resources to the insurgence, noting that stronger forces than the local insurgents had invaded the country.
Omeri said that Nigerians should now see the Boko Haram insurgence in Borno as a declaration of war on the entire country, adding that every citizen must be involved in the fight to rescue the country.
He said that the foreigners, who seemed to have found a place to settle in the country, were joining forces with some Nigerians to unleash mayhem on the rest of the citizens.
According to him, the trend is beginning to assume a dangerous dimension in view of the recent killing of more than 100 people in one fell swoop.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to be allowed to practise their own beliefs rather than being forced to accept the way of life of the insurgents.
"For Boko Haram, the message is simple and not just Boko Haram and any other Nigerian who exhibits such tendencies, what we say is:’ preserve the sanctity of human lives’.
"Uplift your country and persuasively tell citizens what is it that you believe in that is ideal and you want them to understand and follow you peacefully and rightly.
"But once you kill them at the end of the day you are not able to enforce among a colony of people what you want because they are dead by the time you finish.
"It is either that you live alone in isolation without the people that you wanted to train in the first place to think like you.
"Or meaningfully persuade them to understand the motivation behind the tendencies that you have adopted.”
He said that Nigeria was losing both human and material resources to the insurgence, noting that stronger forces than the local insurgents had invaded the country.
Omeri said that Nigerians should now see the Boko Haram insurgence in Borno as a declaration of war on the entire country, adding that every citizen must be involved in the fight to rescue the country.
He said that the foreigners, who seemed to have found a place to settle in the country, were joining forces with some Nigerians to unleash mayhem on the rest of the citizens.
According to him, the trend is beginning to assume a dangerous dimension in view of the recent killing of more than 100 people in one fell swoop.