Mark tasks ACF to restore peace in the North

Senate President David Mark on Thursday in Abuja challenged the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to work out a blueprint on how to end the ``orgy of violence bedevilling the nation''.

 Mark said insecurity in the Northern part of country had assumed a worrisome degree and advocated for collaboration between the elders and the government to find solutions to the challenge.

Speaking through a statement, the Senate President said that violence had put both the government and the governed in a difficult situation.

According to the statement which was signed by the Senate President’s Chief Press Secretary Paul Mumeh, Mark gave the challenge when he received a delegation of ACF Contact and Mobilisation Committee.

The statement said the delegation visited the Senate President ahead of the forthcoming conference tagged “Sustainable Peace in the North,”  organised by the group to address the violence in the region.

 In the statement, Mark admitted that people might be aggrieved for whatever reasons but, “they must follow the proper channel of dialogue and resolution rather than resort to violence''.

It further said the continued violence in the North had denied the region meaningful and the much needed development.

``I am sure that the founding fathers of the North will weep in their graves if they see what today’s violence has done to the region.

“We as the leaders of the Northern region must stop this violence. You may not live in those areas but the death of every Nigerian resident in those places is a lose to all Nigerians,’’ the statement said.

Earlier, leader of the delegation, Alhaji Ahmed  Gusau had expressed grave concern about insecurity in the Northern region, saying “North that used to be known for peace has now become a harbinger of violence.”

Gusau said the conference would deliberate openly and frankly on the crisis in the North with a view to finding lasting solution to the violence.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that  the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is the umbrella socio-cultural body of the Northern region.(NAN)