Senate president, Bukola
Saraki has reacted to the recent killing of Nigerians in Benue state by
suspected Fulani herdsmen.
In a statement by his spokesman, Yusuph Olaniyonu,
on Wednesday, January 10, 2018, Saraki mandated the Senate Adhoc
Committee on Security to immediately resume sitting and work through the
weekend to ensure that they have an interim report ready for the
consideration of members upon resumption of plenary on Tuesday.
Saraki re-emphasized his belief that the killings are clear indications that the security architecture in the country has inherent faults and needs to be refurbished.
“I
believe the sad situation in Benue state shows some fundamental faults
in our security system. There is clear failure of intelligence
gathering, analysis and response time. Our security agencies must be
totally overhauled in terms of equipment, specialization, funding,
training and staffing,”
“This
is the reason why in November, the Senate set up a special committee
led by Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan to work with security
agencies and review the entire system with a view to identifying what is
required in terms of laws, process, procedure, funding and other
necessities for us to have a solid security system which can be
pro-active in identifying potential threats, responding to them on time
and preventing any breach.“We
are quite aware of the fact that security is the first and prime
responsibility of any government. That is why since early last week I
have directed the Lawan committee to take into consideration the sad
developments in Benue and Rivers in their deliberations. Now, we cannot
wait for the time they planned to conclude their recommendations. They
must fast track their schedule .“They
must sit through the weekend and get an interim report ready for the
Senate when we resume plenary on Tuesday. We must immediately support
the executive in solving this problem. We cannot afford shedding of
blood and we are already moving into the election year with the
potential for the aggravation or escalation of these problems. We must
decisively resolve the problem of needless blood letting”, Saraki noted.
Similarly, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has blamed the killings in Benue state on the failure of security agencies in the country.
Ortom made this known on Wednesday in Makurdi at a stakeholders meeting to discuss the security situation in the state.