• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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FG seeks dialogue to tackle insecurity in Ondo, Oyo, others

Immigration Service rolls out temporary passports for Nigerians abroad

The Federal Government is considering dialogue as a tool to douse the simmering tension in Ondo and the northern parts of Oyo State and restore peace to the troubled zones and other parts of the country.

Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola, who disclosed this in Abuja, said the Federal Government is moving in quickly to bring state, community, security, traditional institutions, religious organisations and youth groups into a purposeful dialogue that will bring effective resolutions to the problem within constitutional and legal frameworks.

He urged all citizens in the country to exercise restraint and pursue active efforts on how to use the tools of constructive dialogue, good neighbourliness and the primacy of peace-building as ways of dousing anger and resentment that can only lead to anarchy.

Aregbesola described as regrettable the incidences of heightening ethnic and religious tension in the country. He said the tensions are, in part, outcomes of political and economic strains that have persistently defined Nigeria and continue to exacerbate security challenges, making the task of development more traumatic.

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He said the Federal Government is keenly aware and genuinely concerned about these complications that have been sharpened by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic through the growth of anxieties about issues of life and livelihood in communities.

“The Federal Government is having a holistic look at the challenges and will stop at nothing to bring lasting peace, security and amity to all our communities,” Aregbesola said.

“There will be no tolerance for any act or behaviour capable of jeopardising law and order and security of lives and property in any part of Nigeria.

“Therefore, as the government is fashioning long-term answers to address these problems, it urges citizens to appreciate that self-help and lawlessness cannot offer a path to a sustainable solution.

“It can only lead to greater pain as well as costly human and material losses and disruption of the already difficult task of devising responses that will produce tangible peace and development in the country,” he said.

He urged all citizens to try to be their brother’s keeper and work towards building a peaceful community that works for all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and other forms of differences.