The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami has warned Nigerians against treating the prevailing security challenges confronting the country with kid gloves.

He stated this on Thursday at an emergency high-level dialogue on Law, Justice, and Security in Nigeria, organized by the Justice Ministry for state attorneys-general and critical stakeholders in Abuja.

The AGF cautioned that ascribing religious colourations to the incessant killings and other hydra-headed crimes currently taking place across the country would only inflame passions on both sides.

Malami further appealed to Christian and Islamic leaders to be in the forefront of the ongoing campaign for sober speech and prudent counsel in view of the prevailing situation.

Malami said: “The rush to ascribe religious connotations to pure acts of criminality, even before investigation, can only serve to further deepen the national fault lines and inflame passions on all sides.

“No country survives a religious war and it is our collective prayer that Nigeria will never be pushed to that brink.

“We must work with each other and for each other as it is obvious that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes have perfected the art of cross-boundary movements in order to throw law-enforcement agencies off their trails.

“For the purpose of addressing these challenges, we must, through practical means, discard the notion of closed boundaries and see Nigeria as one jurisdiction through the sharing of information, expertise, and even personnel,” the AGF posited.

While disclosing that the forum was convened against the backdrop of severe security challenges facing the nation, Malami commended President Muhammadu Buhari, and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo for encouraging initiatives for dialogue out of a genuine and urgent desire to explore and utilize all possible strategies to ensure peace and stability of the country.