The Action Congress of Nigeria on Wednesday condemned the attack on Bama town in Borno by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
Suspected members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram on May 7 attacked Bama, leaving 55 people dead according to the Joint Military Task Force.
The JTF said that the gunmen killed 22 police officers, 14 prison officials, two soldiers and four civilians, while 13 of the sect’s members died in the clash with soldiers of the task force.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Lagos, the ACN said that the `barbaric’ attack was another reason for all stakeholders to work tirelessly to end the daily carnage in some parts of the North.
“While every human life is sacrosanct, we are saddened by the mindless killing of security personnel in the course of carrying out their duties of ensuring the protection of life and property,” he said.
The party described as `callous’ the killing of defenceless citizens, especially women and children.
It added that the perpetrators of the senseless killings had lost their sense of decency and humanity.
“Nothing in the world can justify the kind of killings we have witnessed in recent times, and it is high time those who are behind these orgy of violence stop and retraced their steps,” the statement said.
Mohammed noted that the Bama killings, coming about three weeks after the Baga massacre, portrayed Nigeria as a country where human life had little or no value.
“This unflattering portrayal can only have negative consequences for our country, which needs all the goodwill of its global partners, all the foreign investments it can muster as well as an environment conducive for urgent growth and development,’’ Mohammed said.
The ACN spokesman asked what the insurgents wanted to achieve by attacking women and children in police barracks and targeting health centres, courts and local council secretariat areas mostly populated by civilians.
The party urged the Federal Government to work closely with other key stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the Boko Haram crisis.
