Abubakar Tsav, former Commissioner of Police, has given reasons why Nigeria must not experience another Civil War.
Tsav said should another war break out now, the effect will be devastating due to the proliferation of arms across the country.
Speaking with Punch, the former Commissioner said with the rate of arms proliferation, people won’t know who they are fighting.
The Benue State-born former Commissioner also warned that no nation ever experienced two civil wars and still remains united.
He said, “Those who witnessed the Nigeria Civil War and are still alive learned so many lessons, so they would not want to go into another civil war. But it is those who were born after the civil war and have never experienced any war that their blood is boiling. They are the ones itching for war and no country fights two civil wars and still exists.
“A war is terrible because when it starts, you never know who would be consumed. So the people who are agitating for this war don’t know the evil in it. But for someone like me who witnessed the Nigerian Civil War, l’m too scared of experiencing another war
“I am praying that we should not go back to that level but the situation is very frightening. I’m praying that it should not happen because arms have found themselves in the hands of many people in this country.
” There is proliferation of arms everywhere in this country. So if there were to be an outbreak of war now, it would be very bad because you wouldn’t know who you are fighting. Your next-door neighbour may have guns; and they may have a score to settle with you, so they may attack you. So I’m praying that God Almighty should help us.
“We are responsible for what is happening in this country. We are after money, we are not thinking of salvation, having peace and loving one another. We are only thinking of prosperity and making money, so every one of us is to blame because when you go and start cursing people and saying: Fulani are murderers; Tiv people are cattle thieves, and so on, it is not good. We should not preempt and curse one another. We should pray together and ask God to forgive us all our shortcomings.
“God should have mercy on us so that this country can develop, but the number of arms which people possess now in this country is alarming.
“If anything happens, it is going to be terrible. Well, some of you are still young, but for old people like us, if anything happens now, we will sit still and they will come and gun us down. Then, we will join our ancestors in heaven or hell, but l pray that God should pity me and take me to heaven.”
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