The Northern Elders Forum on Tuesday said the country is bleeding from the North, calling on the government to act now before it is too late.

It also condemned in the strongest terms what it described as “the brutal massacre of innocent Nigerian travellers in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State,” calling the atrocity a chilling reflection of the country’s deepening security crisis and failure of leadership.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by NEF’s spokesperson, Prof Abubakar Jiddere, the group said it was “shaken to its core” by the premeditated slaughter of 18 citizens, including women and children, who were ambushed, hacked to death, and set ablaze while en route to a wedding in Quan-Pan, Plateau State.