ABUJA – Senate yesterday, rejected report of its Committee on Police Affairs led by Sen. Abu Ibrahim, which investigated the alleged killing of 73 persons by herdsmen in Benue state for want of debth.

They also observed that the committee’s report was skewed in favour of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris and without any input from the Governor of the state, Mr. Samuel Ortom.

The Senators were set to pumel the Committee for their open bias and shoddy job but for timely intervention of Senate President Bukola Saraki who ruled that it was yet premature to do so.

The Senate President declared that the report of the Sen. Abu Ibrahim led Committee was not complete.

“I have seen a lot of persons who wants to speak on this matter but I don’t think it is right to take debate on this now, let the committee go back and complete their work”, he declared.

He observed serious yawning gaps such as interview with the Benue State Governor, Mr. Ortom among others.
To this end, the SP directed that the Committee withdraw the report and complete the assignment. The Committee is to report back to the Senate in one week.

“Like the Deputy President of the Senate rightly observed, the repot is not complete because the governor was not consulted by the committee.

There is no need to debate now, let the committee go back to complete their work, the report is not compete.

I allowed George Akume to speak because he is the only closest person to the matter here.

Presenting the report of the committee earlier, Sen. Abu Ibrahim, had called for adequate funding of the police to enable the agency fight insecurity across the country, adding that the police is inadequately funded to address the challenges.

Also, Ibrahim recommended that a percentage of excess crude oil fund of about $2 differential should made available through appropriation to the police in order to beef up its operations, even as he asked the IGP to speedily prosecute those arrested and intensify efforts to arrest those still at large

“Deliberate steps should be taken to disarm all armed militia groups in Benue and the country in general. Politicians and opinion leaders should desist from making inflammatory statements capable of inciting the violence”, the committee recommended.

Raising eyebrows over the report’s bias, the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, observed that though the committee did a good job, the report is however biased as it failed to give opportunity to the Benue state Governor to tell his own side of the story.

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Ekwerenmadu asserted that justice requires that to balance the story, the governor should have been called to tell his own experience by the committee.

This the DSP observed was not done, thereby, making the report one sided.

Speaking also, Adamu Aliero, commended the committee for doing a good job, saying it was the first time the police is arresting some suspects, unlike before when such killings will take place without any arrested.

He said the recommendation by the senate committee that the police should be funded adequately is apt, adding that the 2% of crude oil should be reserved for the equipment of the police will go a long way to address the issues of insecurity in the country.

In his remarks, the senator representing Benue central, Gorge Akume, lamented that the governor who was accused massively by the IGP was not invited, saying they could have got more information.

He said that the investigation of the committee centered on the IGP, adding that the IG moved to Benue and stayed one day and went to Nasarawa and spent more days.

He noted that since the incidence the IGP Idris has engaged in inflammatory comments that betrayed hid partiality, doubting genuiness of the IGP in finding lasting solutions to the crises in the country.

He refuted the claims by the senate committee that there is no assessment of miltia groups in Tunga and submitted that they were there always.

More also, Sen. Akume noted that the Benue State governor has confirmed it and that the videos were everywhere.

He bemoaned that the IGP has not been fair to Benue people, alleging that there were unchecked AK47 guns bearing fulani herdsmen, moving about with intention to kill.

The senator noted that the killings were not about religion or tribe, but about economic sabotage, land grabbing and forceful occupation.

He further argued that the much stated and advertised arrest of five persons was insignificant compared with the number of people seeming immune herdsmen moving about and killing innocent persons.