- Fix May 28 as National Day of Mourning and Remembrance (NDOM)
A total of 4,330 lives has been lost in Nigeria between last year (2019) and the first quarter of this year (2020), Executive Director of Global Rights, Mrs Abiodun Bayewu has said.
Deploring the rising scale of violent killings in the country, Mrs Bayewu stated that the situation was spiraling into a national catastrophe.
Bayewu, in a statement released in Abuja, lamented that the total figure of violent deaths in Nigeria comprise of 3,188 killed from January to December of 2019 and the 1,142 that lost their lives in the first quarter of 2020 alone.
The NGO is concerned that violent killings are being carried out with impunity in virtually all states of the nation and is fast threatening the very fiber of nationhood in Nigeria
Mrs Bayewu regretted that violent killings and the activities of insurgents has cost the nation close to 4,000 lives, stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic could cost Nigeria even more casualties if the federal government fails to step up its intervention with integrity.
“These mass atrocities have now spiraled into a national catastrophe and are threatening the very fiber of our nationhood. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is likely to cost us even more lives if the government does not step up its interventions with integrity.”
Bayewu also informed Nigerians that the National day of Mourning and Remembrance for all victims of violent killings across Nigeria has been scheduled for Thursday, May 28, 2020.
“As you are aware, the National Day of Mourning and Remembrance is a citizen-led initiative to express solidarity, and demand accountability for the security and welfare of all Nigerians. The resolve for a National Day of Mourning was consequent to the resolutions reached at a meeting of more than a hundred civil society actors two years ago in Abuja, to undertake a National Day of Mourning as a symbolic action capable of registering citizens’ dissatisfaction with the state of our national security, since protests no longer seem to impact the conscience of our political elites”
“Our projection for the NDOM 2020 is that this year’s event will be more virtual than congregational as we had done in the previous years. This is in view of the current trend of the Covid-19 pandemic, and our adherence to the safety and precautionary measures prescribed by the Federal Government and the National Centre for Disease Control. Thus, the usual solemn assembly of concerned citizens to perform mourning ceremonies at strategic locations around the country may not hold”.
“However, we have adopted the following activities that could be done virtually via your social media platforms: Calling their names, wearing of black arm band, or black ribbons as a symbol of their solidarity and silence. As we invite all Nigerians to observe a minute of silence at noon on May 28. We also request radio and TV stations to observe the silence and advocate for their audiences to do the same.”