Killings: Reps Want Buhari To Address Nation In 48 Hours

The House of Representatives has given President Muhammadu Buhari 48 hours to address the nation over the spate of killings in the country.

This was part of the resolutions reached by lawmakers in the House when the matter came up during Thursday’s plenary.

They agreed that the President should address them and the nation regarding the attacks on communities in Benue, Zamfara, Kaduna, and other states where many people were killed and several others displaced.

Should the President fail to respond to the request, the lawmakers resolved to conclude with other Nigerians that he and his administration were incapable of permanently curtailing the incessant killing of innocent Nigerians.

They also agreed that the failure to address the nation would mean that the President and his administration have failed in their primary constitutional responsibility of ensuring the security and welfare of the citizens.

The House resolved to constitute an ad-hoc committee to interface with the Presidency regarding the request.

The committee, according to it, will also engage the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff, and service chief among others, in a public hearing to find permanent solutions to the killings.

The resolutions were agreed on following a matter of urgent public importance raised by a member from Benue State, Mr Mark Gbillah.

The lawmaker had alleged that bandits and suspected killer herdsmen have gradually progressed from attacking remote villages at night to sacking whole towns at broad daylight while the security forces were unable to curb their activities.

After a series of deliberation on the matter, the lawmakers resolved that the President should brief the nation on the alleged inability of his administration to declare the “killer herdsmen” as terrorists.

They also faulted the alleged inability of the security agencies to stop what they termed “recurring death of scores of innocent Nigerians annually from systematic attacks by killer herdsmen and alleged bandits.”

The house claimed that there were “selective and ineffective” responses to the killing of Nigerians, especially when they occur in certain parts of the country.

They demanded to know the immediate measures the President was taking to provide the security agencies with the required resources to confront and dislodge the criminals from their hideouts.

They also called for the establishment of permanent security presence in immediate proximity to affected communities and the provision of a timeline within which the attacks would be curtailed.