About two weeks ago, the Chairman of Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission, Chief Philip Olorunnipa, was assassinated at his residence in Kabba area of the State. The cold-blooded murder of the electoral chief alleged to be politically motivated instantly drew reprisal attacks on the opposing camp leading to a state of insecurity in some areas of the State.

This event has again brought to the front burner the unfolding dangerous trend in politicking in Nigeria. High profile political killings are gradually becoming a potent tool used by politicians to settle political scores. The list of persons who have fallen to the bullets of the assassins or narrowly escaped such is growing by the day. Bola Ige, Harry Marshall, Alfred Dikibo, Andrew Agom, Philip Olorunnipa, etc. It cuts across the highly and lowly placed in the political terrain.

No doubt, this spate of suspected political killings and violence is gradually taking its toll on the socio-economic life of our nation. It is antithetical to development in every sense of the word, making nonsense of the efforts and resources that the Federal Government has committed into its development blueprint for the country. Though this trend has been widely condemned by different segments of the society: political office holders, civil servants, civil society groups, etc; it has again underscored the need to urgently address the security question in Nigeria. It is not enough to pay lip service to the problem of insecurity of lives and property nor to put in place mere reactionary programmes in response to the ‘galloping phenomenon’.

It is expedient that many of the unresolved cases of politically motivated killings that are either still being investigated by the police or already being tried in our law courts be diligently prosecuted; there should not be any sacred cows. The federal government owes a duty to the people of Nigeria to uncover all those behind these dastardly acts and allow the law to take its full course. All those arrested as well as those indicted need to be brought to book, their political weight and affiliations notwithstanding.

It is also important for government to put in place proactive measures to check the dwindling state of security. The emerging trend of politics of assassination has to be nipped in the bud. Political parties in Nigeria, starting with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, should eschew politics of bitterness. Use of political thugs and weapons of violence should be made to attract serious sanctions.

CRP therefore calls on President Obasanjo and the Inspector General of Police to adopt a holistic approach focusing on the causes of such inclination in tackling the problem of insecurity in the country.