Noah Ebije,Kaduna
The spate of killings by renewed banditry and terrorist attacks in the North, as well as outbreak of Corona virus in the country, have stalled the 20th anniversary celebration of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the northern mouthpiece.
The anniversary was scheduled to hold second week of this month in Kaduna where the latest killings by bandits took place.
This was contained in a statement by the Chairman, ACF Anniversary Organizing Committee, the former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu M.Wamako.
The statement read in part, “The Leadership of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) regrets to inform the general public and most importantly our esteemed Special Guests the postponement of the events of its 20th Anniversary Celebrations.
“The decision to postpone the celebration was taken in view of our concern to the spate of killings by the renewed bandit and terrorist attacks in the North, particularly the recent one in Kaduna where the event was scheduled to take place. Furthermore, the corona virus threat which is a global concern cannot be ignored.
“In view of the above, the leadership of ACF after due consultations with major stakeholders and members of the Forum felt that it would be insensitive at this material time to go ahead with the programmes.
“As the forum regrets this painful decision, it wishes to assure all that it was in the overall best interest of our people and Nigeria at large.
“ACF, therefore, regrets all inconveniences this painful postponement would cause all our invited guests”.