N/East leaders appeal to Boko Haram to sheathe sword

CONCERNED leaders from the North-East geopolitical zone of the country, meeting for the first time under the aegis of North East Forum of Concerned Leaders, on Wednesday, rose from their meeting in Bauchi and appealed to the leadership and conscience of the Jama'atul Ahlus Sunnati lidda'awati Wal Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, to have confidence in the fact that each and every member of the region is their kin and kith.According to the communique issued at the meeting held at Fariah Suites in Bauchi and chaired by former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, the leaders called on the group to see every citizen of the region as family, with a view to embracing peace and dialogue.They added that everyone in the region, including the Jama'atul members, were suffering most in the current challenges facing the country, the North-East in particular.Also, the regional leaders decided to revive societal information and security networks based on moral, traditional and political institutions at all levels of the society.While lamenting the current poverty level and unemployment trends in the zone, the leaders, according to the communique, assured of meeting the socio-political and economic predicaments of the region through the practical application of both human and material resources.Speaking earlier in an address, the converner of the meeting, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Kirfi, lamented that the region had been engulfed in a state of warfare since 2009, noting that what made it worse was that it was even worse than the 40-month civil war the country experienced between 1967 and 1970.He said the meeting was convened to take a critical look at the problem as a sub-regional problem and come out with solutions with a view to surmounting it.Also speaking, Alhaji Ciroma lamented illiteracy problem in the region, saying hat no nation could move forward if its ctizens were not educated.He, therefore, called on the government to put in more efforts in the country's education sector.
Click here to read full news..