The federal government through the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) has blamed retired civil servants for the rising state of insecurity.
Delivering a speech in Abuja on Tuesday at the stakeholders’ meeting the director-general of the IPCR, Bakut Bakut, said the institute gathered its facts from investigations conducted.
Mr Bakut said the meeting is aimed at mainstreaming peace in the workplace to minimise the increasing labour-related conflicts that negatively impact workers’ productivity, morale, and economic development.
“Sadly, a thorough observation of the list of conflict stakeholders across Nigeria has revealed that a sizeable number of our retired civil personnel are the forces behind some difficult and perennial conflicts in communities across Nigeria,” Mr Bakut claimed.
“Our country is burdened by debilitating issues of conflicts in the six geo-political zones, ranging from herders-farmers conflicts to ethnoreligious violence and terrorism, which have led to the death of very resourceful Nigerians.
“It has also been observed that most sectors of our national life, including the work communities (public and private) are suffering from one form of conflict or the other caused by a sharp decline in the culture of peace in our communities and organisations,” he added.
Insecurity has continued to be on the rise nationwide despite the appointment of new service chiefs to tackle the situation. Yesterday, the government lamented its inability to guarantee the safety of citizens, particularly school children.
It urged Nigerians to be at alert and work in tandem with security agencies to nip the situation in the bud.
