Three thousand members of the Northern Youths Leaders Forum (NYLF) were killed in Boko Haram attacks in the North-East while hundreds relocated to the North-West, national chairman of the forum, Comrade Elliot Afiyo has said.
Speaking with journalists in Yola, the Adamawa State capital at the weekend, Afiyo traced the origin of the crisis rocking some parts of the North to bad governance and injustice, calling on public office holders to do more to end the killings.
“We are particularly pained by the colossal loss of innocent lives of our youths, parents and guardians in the wake of the activities of insurgents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa as well as the killings in communal strife and farmers/herders clashes in Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kastina and others states in the North in recent times”, he said.
The youth leader Afiyo lamented the fact that the ugly incidents were coming at a time Nigerians are supposed to be enjoying the gains of democracy.
“We condemn in strong terms the killings in Buni Yadi Federal Government College, FGC, the College of Agriculture in Yobe state, Catholic Seminary in Michika, Federal Polytechnic, Mubi Adamawa state and host of others too numerous to mention”, he said.
Afiyo also expressed concern over the proliferation of arms and ammunitions in the country and urged the federal government to probe the sources of the illegal arms and bring the culprits to justice.
According to him, the NYLF has procured a plot of land in Kano to build low-cost houses to help displaced members to resettle and have a new lease of life.
He also said the membership strength of the forum has reached two million across the 19 northern states.
