Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to “seriously consider” resigning from office over the rising insecurity in the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, NEF spokesman, said Nigerians cannot live under conditions associated with security challenges until the tenure of Buhari expires.

Baba-Ahmed said there has not been an “appropriate response” from the government over the killings across the country.

“We cannot continue to live and die under the dictates of killers, kidnappers, rapists and sundry criminal groups that have deprived us of our rights to live in peace and security,” he said.

“Our constitution has provisions for leaders to voluntarily step down if they are challenged by personal reasons or they prove incapable of leading.

“It is now time for Buhari to seriously consider that option, since his leadership has proved spectacularly incapable of providing security over Nigerians.

“Our Forum is aware of the weight of this advice, and it is also aware that we cannot continue to live under these conditions until 2023 when Buhari’s term ends.

“Nigerians have shed enough tears and blood without appropriate response from those with responsibilities to protect us.”

Baba-Ahmed added that criminals appear to have grown more confident in their vices, because they have “sensed a vacuum” at the highest levels of leadership.