ABUJA – An NGO, Women Environmental Programme (WEP), on Thursday urged government to monitor early warning signs to curb crises in the country.
Mrs Priscilia Achakpa, the National Coordinator of WEP, gave the advice during a five-kilometre `Peace Walk’ in Abuja during which the group demanded for proactive measures to check crises in the country.
The peace match, which was organised by WEP, attracted several women and youths who all condemned the recent killings in the country.
The participants were drawn from various affected states like Benue, Niger and Plateau.
Achakpa, who called on Nigerians to be their brother’s keeper in promoting peace, also said:.
“Government has the apparatus to curb the menace going on in the country, especially in monitoring the situation.
“Once there is going to be a crisis there is no way that the government will not know, at least even within the community.
“We need to be our brother’s keeper; first and foremost we know that peace is not just something the government can achieve alone.
“We should all be our brother’s keeper and we should be able to embrace peace even in our communities, that is what we are saying.’’
Achakpa said women and children were mostly affected by the insurgency in the country, citing Benue with over 16 displaced peoples camps.
“What is their future? What kind of future will they be looking at? What is the government doing?
“If you go around the country now we have more widows than widowers and we have more orphans than you can ever think of,’’ she said.
Mrs Vou Shon, a representative of the Community Based Development Programme in Plateau, expressed grief over the rate of violence in the state
“In Plateau, we have seen enough, women and children have the right to live and our children are the future leaders, our girls are future mothers.
“We are tired of these killings, we want peace in Plateau, we want peace in Nigeria,’’ she said. (NAN)