ABUJA – Harped conspiratorial theory behind Christmas and New-Year invasion of some communities in Benue State, re-echoed yesterday at the National Assembly, when Sen. Barnabas Gemade asserted that the Federal Government has the list of armed banditry sponsors in the country.

This is even as the Senate resolved yesterday that “in the next 14 days, the Inspector General of Police must find the perpetrators, arrest them; and the Attorney General of Benue State must prosecute them”.

Presiding Senate President Bukola Saraki declared: “that is minimum requirement and it must happen”, stressing, “our resolution is that some of our discussions here need to be conveyed to Mr. President”.

“We appreciate his actions for calling us and giving us a brief on what has happened. Hence, we owe it to him to tell him what we have discussed and the seriousness with which we have taken the issue”, he noted.

He further noted that the resolution “is a wake-up call for him (President Mohammadu Buhari) and it is a wake-up call for us; it is a wake up call for this government.

“We must address the issue of security. We cannot continue to allow this violence to keep going on from one state to another. Therefore, something needs to be done.

The President must act, and those responsible for this must be held accountable. There must also be long term solutions.

Part of this long term solution should be left for members of the committee on security to make objective suggestions.

The military cannot be the solution all the time. This is because sometimes they are overstretched and that has its own impact and problem.

In this regard, we are hoping that the committee urgently comes up with the recommendation to us on what we need to do to strengthen the police, apart from more man-power. Is it community policing? Is it state policing? We need to know.

Something must be done in this area, but more importantly we have condemned this killings but we must begin to take concrete steps to re-assure Nigerians we are not here to just talk.

All those who are responsible must know that this kind of incident should never happen again, going forward”, the Senate President continued.
He condemned the killings in some parts of the country and declared “that mindless bloodletting has no place in our society”.

He reflected on what he described as “the killings in some parts of the country, particularly recent tragic events in Benue State”, noting that, “many households are grief-stricken”.

“This mood of reflection is also one from which no lawmaker is immune deficient; what affects one, affects all; when one part of the body is hurting, the whole body hurts; and this holds true for the entire nation.

I offer our sincerest condolences to the people of Benue and indeed, to all who have suffered the loss of their loved ones as a result of these wanton acts”, the SP continued.

In a veiled reference to complacent posture of the Federal Government on the matter, Sen. Saraki noted: “when we fail in our duty to protect Nigerian lives, it is a tragedy and an indictment on us all”.

He therefore assured that, “we as the 8th Senate stand ready to help find solutions to assuage the hurt to affected parts, to bring the perpetrators to justice and to enthrone peace in all four corners of this country”.

At the resumed plenary yesterday, Sen. Gemade (Benue North), told the Senate that, his interface with security chiefs in the state revealed that reports containing lists of sponsors of foreign armed bandits have long been submitted to the federal government.

He however could not understand why no action was taken on the matter until the massacre of Benue people and other states including, Edo, Kaduna, Rivers, and Taraba, resulting global uproar and condemnation.

“Police commissioner, Director DSS and Army commander of Benue State reported that those harboring these foreign armed bandits are known and reports have been sent to FG”, he continued.

Sen. Gemade therefore urged the Senate to call for the list and to query the rationale for not proactively acting on the various comprehensive security reports.

This is even as Sen. Ahmed Lawan led Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of Security Infrastructure of Nigeria called for genuine redress of security lapses in country.

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The Committee which has just returned from it’s fact finding mission to the troubled Benue state declared that Nigeria security infrastructure has collapsed such, that it now threatens the unity and peace of the country.

He also observed that since the incidence, no person has been arrested and called for immediate arrest of perpetrators of the heinous crimes, to make account for their mischiefs.

“Failure to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of these gruesome acts could play into the hands of those ethnic entrepreneurs whose aim is to break the nation.

It is deepening the country’s ethno-religious faultlines by entrenching the perception of the conflict in ethno-religious dimensions”, he observed

The Adhoc Committee further suggested mopping up of armed weapons particularly guns which he noted have been proliferated all over the places.

Sen. Lawan further observed that the Nigerian borders were porous called for adequate deployment of security to the country’s borders, to check illegal influx of foreigners into the country.

“The Federal Government should beef up and re-strategize its deployment of security intelligence capabilities with a View to obtaining actionable intelligence about impending attacks and plots in order to forestall and prevent the recurrence of rural violence and inter-ethnic conflagrations.

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 Senate should convene as a matter of utmost urgency a national security summit to examine the recurring violence and mayhem visited on our rural communities before they become an existential threat to the our national cohesion and national survival.

The Government through the Ministry of Agriculture should as a matter of urgency convene a special National Council on Agriculture meeting to deliberate on the development and modernization of Nigeria’s livestock and dairy industry”, the Committee further recommended.

The Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu noted that the Senate was tired of observing a minute silence for the dead, stressing that government must provide Nigerians with peace and security before thinking of infrastructure and development.

“The senate is not the only group or body concerned, Nigerians are also worried; we are tired of always observing a minute silence; we must have peace and security before even thinking of infrastructure and development in the Country”, he added.

In his contribution, former Senate Presdient David Mark commended Sen. Saraki, on his timely directive to the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Security Infrastructure to cut short its recess and investigate the New Year killings in Benue state.

He also urged security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crimes and their sponsors as an immediate step towards addressing the clashes between the herdsmen and farmers in the state.

“Mr. President, there are several recommendations towards addressing these clashes. In the interim, the best way is to arrest the sponsors since the Governor of Benue State said the government has identified the sponsors.

The long term recommendations of the committee on cattle colony, ranching and others are still good but they can not be implemented now.

The best way to save life in the interim is to arrest the sponsors since they have been identified. Saving a life now is as good as saving the situation and preventing it from degenerating further”, he added.

Calling for establishment State and Local Government Police to deal with such situation, Sen. Andy Uba noted that “the issue was on CNN which means it is becoming a national embarrassment,”

He added that “If setting up state police is difficult — we should look into setting up community policing system instead.”

On his part, vocal Sen. Dino Melaye (Kogi West), noted : “Justice is a scarce commodity, the President and Vice President should take a bold step and ring the bell of justice.”

As for Sen. Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom), “we should revisit the constitutional review where we can start State policing and community policing so as to curb these kind of internal mayhem.”