Without peace, there can’t be progress –Senators

[Mirror]

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Nwagu and his Telecommunication counterpart, Senator Gilbert Nnaji has declared that there would be no progress in the country without peace, adding that the Senate, in collaboration with the Presidency, is committed to ensuring peace in the country.

Senators Nwagu and Nnaji said this at a rally at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos at the weekend organised by a non-governmental organisation, the Foundation for World Peace. The rally has as its theme 'Global War Against Terrorism.'

Nwagu called on every Nigerian to protect the country from any threat and challenged local government chairmen and traditional rulers to ensure that peace is maintained in their respective domains.

Nnaji noted that terrorism, violence and conflicts have continued to generate global concern, adding that Nigeria has had a sizable share of mostly ethnic and religious disturbances that claimed numerous lives, but concluded that the country has adopted all manner of pragmatic approaches to deal with the situation.

The senators called on participants at the rally to rise against every form of imposition of anti-people religious beliefs, noting that the two most popular religions in the country, Christianity and Islam, do not support violence.

Founder of the FWP, Archbishop Samson Mustapha Benjamin, said that within a united Nigeria, every man, as a free moral agent, has the right to decide which religion he wants to belong to, and which God to worship.

Archbishop Benjamin, who has been very outspoken in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, called on Nigerians to stand up for peace.

Lamenting the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group, the cleric noted that the rally/international peace initiative was put together by the foundation to send a message to perpetrators of evil, that there are Nigerians who won't be intimidated.

 

National Mirror