They lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for his incompetence and failure to curb the senseless killings going on in the country.
A Coalition of Concerned Northern Nigerian Groups has staged a protest against rising insecurity in the North and other parts of the country, in Abuja.
For their campaign, the protesters used the hashtags: #SaveTheNorth; #NorthernLivesMatter; #NorthIsBleeding; #SecureOurLives; #EnoughIsEniugh; and #NoMoreBloodShed.
The protesters, who converged on the popular Unity Fountain in Abuja, called on Nigerians to speak out and join the protest to demand a better and peaceful country.
They lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for his incompetence and failure to curb the senseless killings going on in the country.
The protesters, who were initially chased away from the fountain by the police, were later allowed to gather.
However, they were prevented from taking the protest outside the venue.
A co-convener of the protest, Zainab Ahmed, popularly known as Bint Hijazi, said the Buhari-led government has brought nothing but sorrow, killings and hardship on Nigerians since he was voted into office in 2015.
She said the Next Level campaign slogan of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which was used ahead of the 2019 presidential election, is synonymous with killing and hardship.
She expressed regret for supporting and using her social media platforms to garner votes for the reelection of the President in 2019.
Zainab said, "We are here to call on the Nigerian government that North is bleeding and enough is enough. We are tired of burying our women, children, and men and our crops being razed by bandits.
"We are here to tell the government to secure our lives. We bury hundreds of people on a daily basis yet there is no action, not even 'sorry' from our leaders. We are here because we are angry. Because we are children of Baba Buhari, we feel that he has neglected us.
"We called on our followers to vote for Buhari in 2019 for the next level and this next level is killing us. We are dying, this is not what we vote for. We don't deserve this, we deserve to live and have peace. North is bleeding, wake up, our leaders and save our lives."
The protesters said they were agitated by the recent escalation of attacks and killings across Northern Nigerian communities, cities, towns and highways, adding that the situation has put the region at the mercy of bandits.
They lamented the gruesome killing of over 40 bus passengers at Gidan Bawa village in Sokoto State where bandits blocked the road and set the vehicle ablaze and occupants ablaze.
Also speaking was Ramat Abdulmajid, who called on all Nigerians irrespective of their political, religious and ethnic affiliation to come out and join the protest in the interest of peace across the country.
She said, "Our purpose for coming out today is to call on Nigerians to join this protest because we are fed up and we want the government to do something about insecurity. All we need now is peace in Nigeria. There is no peace in the South and the North.
"You cannot even walk freely in the afternoon. We call on the President to provide security in all parts of the country. We will continue to stay here until all Nigerians come out to join this protest and have one voice because we are tired."