FORMER former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd) wants a meeting of all leaders and elder statesmen on current violence and also calls for prayers to overcome the recent killings.
He said all leaders and elders in Nigeria should come together for an urgent meeting on ways to end the killings.
Gowon condemned the killings and lamented that his heart bleeds at the rate at which innocent lives are lost.
He visited Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state at the weekend ahead of the Nigeria Prays Group’s prayer rally in the South-East.
“Without Peace, certainly, we won’t be able to grow any further. And this is what has been retarding Nigeria recently,” Gowon said.
“Let us continue to pray but let us also play our own part to ensure that we are doing whatever we can to achieve the peace.”
Receiving the visitor, Okorocha said Nigerian view the killings in Benue and other parts of the country as a national problem and rise to the challenge to tackle it irrespective of political ethnic and religious differences.
As things stand, very little progress has been made in terms of finding a solution to the violence and killings, according to the governor.
“It started from Boko Haram, to herdsmen, to Niger Delta (militancy), to kidnapping.
“And this calls for serious concern, especially the recent one happening in Benue State. We don’t seem to be finding any solution – political or otherwise. Rather, we are all busy condemning the act.”
Nigeria Prays Group was formed in 1996 with the aim of holding prayers in for Nigeria.
The group is comprised of Christians, Muslims, and body of intercessors who have come together to hold joint prayers as well as offer supplications to God with the sole aim of helping seek divine supports for Nigeria’s problems.
