The Senate has given the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, 14-day ultimatum to arrest the perpetrators of the recent killings in Benue State.
This comes as lawmakers kicked against the establishment of North Central Development Fund.
These were some of the outcome of the report of the Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the Current Security Infrastructure in Nigeria at Tuesday plenary.
On January 1, 2018, Guma and Logo Local Government Areas came under siege from rampaging herdsmen, killing 73 persons.
Lawmakers condemned in strongest terms, the ‘wanton criminal attacks’ and called on the IGP to hand over the culprits to the Attorney General of the State for prosecution.
They also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wake up to the increasing security challenges in various parts of the country. This recommendation followed the submission of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts Shehu Sani, who accused the committee members of massaging the President’s ego by not putting the blame squarely on the table of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Specifically, he accused members of the ad-hoc committee of playing to the gallery by referring to the Federal Government, instead of calling out President Buhari.
He said this is not the time to be diplomatic or politically correct, adding that there is nothing like the Presidency when it comes to the issue of insecurity.
“The Federal Government should re-examine, revamp and reinvent the nation’s security architecture and infrastructure in order to ensure that no community or entity is left unsecured and unsafe.
“The Federal Government should immediately re-examine the current deployment of security forces, particularly the Police, DSS and Civil Defence Corp, etc. in order to strengthen their presence in the rural areas, starting from the most conflict prone areas around Ni ger,Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Adamawa axis, Zamfara, Kaduna and in the entire North central zone,” part of the recommendations read.
In his submission, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, called on President Buhari to declare a nationwide state of emergency.
Ekweremadu who warned of a looming war, said with the declaration of a state of emergency, the Federal Government will pave the leeway to deploy troops to every part of the country, close borders and take drastic actions to tackle the menace.
He claimed that the international and security communities have expressed worries that another war may soon breakout in Nigeria. The lawmaker indicted the government, claiming that it has failed to carryout its constitutional duties by protecting lives and properties of every Nigerian.
Decrying the failure of security architecture in the country, Ekweremadu contended that non-adherence to social contracts can lead to impeachment, loss of elections, coups and recall of representatives.
He said: “The failure of social contracts lead to impeachment, loss of elections, coups and other things. The government should look at Section 305 of the Constitution to invoke a state of emergency. Like I said, war is coming.
“The spate of killings in Nigeria are alarming. What is going on are situations of killings and retaliation. As a Senate, we must get up and do something. The Senate is not the only group that is upset. Nigerians are worried. Our leaders who kept mute are now speaking up.
“We are not away from war. When I talk about state of emergency, it is not removing governors. It is to protect lives. I am saying that a state of emergency be declared in every part of the country. Egypt has done that. We have come to that”.
Also in his presentation, Mao Ohuabunwa called on the President to sign the Peace Corps Bill into law, saying this will help in intelligence gathering at the grassroots.
Former President of the Senate, David Mark, who spoke on the issue, blamed the problem on failure of intelligence, lamenting that the Federal Government is not proactive in responding to national crises.
The immediate past Senate President warned that if this issue is not tackled, Nigerians may resort to self-help and take up arms against the state. He also called on the Federal Government to arrest the masterminds of the attacks to serve as deterrent to others.
In all, the Ahmad Lawan-led committee, which visited Benue State, made 11 recommendations.
The committee also recommended that the Federal Government convenes a national security summit to examine the recurring violence and mayhem visited on communities in the country.
It said security forces should be deployed to rural communities to tame any breakdown of law and order.
However, the committee was silent on the creation of cattle colonies.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
