Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has declared that Nigeria has become a “killing field” in response to recent reported massacres in Kwara, Katsina, and Benue states.
He issued the statement in Abuja, lamenting the deaths of approximately 170 people in Kwara State alone this week.
Atiku stated that the scale and frequency of the attacks reveal a catastrophic failure by the state to protect its citizens, particularly the most vulnerable.
He criticized the pattern of empty condemnations issued after mass burials, asserting that such reactions are no longer acceptable.
He emphasized that security must be proactive, deliberate, and preventive rather than reactive, and that communities facing repeated attacks must not be left as “open hunting grounds for criminals.”
Expressing deep pain over the killings, Atiku called on the Federal Government, state authorities, and communities to act decisively and in concert to end the bloodshed. He concluded by stating, “The murder of even one Nigerian is an unforgivable failure.”
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
