Avoid Religious Profiling Of Boko Haram Victims, Ndume Cautions Media Outlets
The Senator representing Borno South at the upper chamber of the national assembly, Ali Ndume, has warned against religious profiling of the victims of the Boko Haram attacks, which have continued to make life unbearable for Nigerians in the North East region.
Ndume’s reaction followed last weekend’s attacks in Ngoshe village, Gwoza Local Government Area and Mussa community in Askira-Uba Local Government Area. The two local government areas are in Borno State.
This was contained in a statement issued by the lawmaker on Wednesday.
In the two separate attacks, the insurgents killed five farmers last Saturday in Ngoshe village, who incidentally were Muslims while three Christians became victims of the terror gang on Sunday in Mussa village, Askira-Uba Local Government Area.
According to media reports, the insurgents also razed dozens of houses in the two attacks.
The former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army expressed dissatisfaction over a narrative by an online media report which claimed that all the victims of the insurgents attacks were of the Christian faith.
Ndume said: “It is unethical and unconscionable for any media outlet to drive the narrative that Christians are the targets of these attacks by the terror group in Borno, or anywhere in North Eastern part of Nigeria.
“The forces behind these mindless killings are blind to faith and tribe. We should avoid this dangerous profiling which can distract us. It has the tendency of doing us more harm. It can even inflame negative passion in our soldiers, dampen the morale of men who toil day and night, determined to ensure that they wipe away this dangerous sect.
“Our people, whose only pursuit is peace and livelihood, continue to fall victim to the cruelty of insurgents. These men and women deserve to live, to farm and to dream, but their lives are being cut short by those who thrive on violence and destruction.”
While commending the military for sustaining the battle against the terror gang, Senator Ndume called on the Federal Government to take more than a passing interest in the welfare of the military and provision of adequate arms and ammunition to enable them overwhelm the insurgents.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
