…As Senate gives IG 14 days to arrest killer herdsmen***

Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for the escalating killings by herdsmen in the country and demanded decisive actions to halt the ugly development.

They said the President’s silence showed that he lacked the political will to tackle the problem head-on, demanding prompt actions by security agencies.

The lawmakers, who reconvened in Abuja on Tuesday after their Christmas and New Year break, spoke as they debated a motion on ‘Need for the Federal Government to Declare a State of Emergency on Security over Spate of Deadly Attacks in the Country by Suspected Herdsmen.’

The motion was jointly moved by Mr. Babatunde Kolawole and Mr. Dickson Tarkighir.

A large number of the lawmakers also supported the position of the Benue State Government that ranching of cattle would go a long way in reducing the conflicts between farmers and herders.

A member, Mr. Hassan Saleh, told the session, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, that the Monday meeting with Buhari in Abuja did not give any hope that a solution would soon be found.”

Saleh, a member of the All Progressives Congress from Benue State, described the government as having “failed woefully” in securing the lives and property of Nigerians.

He noted that a government, whose body language suggested that cattle had more value than the lives of its citizens, had failed the people.

Saleh told the plenary about the Monday meeting between the people of Benue State and Buhari over the attacks by herdsmen and the feeble reactions by security agencies.

He said the response the delegation got from the President did not indicate that any serious steps were being taken to contain the situation.

Saleh said, “What is happening is a failure of government right from Mr. President to all of us seated here.

“We met with Mr. President yesterday (Monday) and our takeaway was nothing. All he said was ‘go and investigate,’ (to security agencies).

“So, what is happening is that the political will to tackle this problem is not there.”

Another APC member, Mr. Orker Jev, observed that the lack of political will could be seen in the “fact that this government is not giving the herdsmen the same attention it has given to Boko Haram.”

Jev dismissed the excuse that the killers were foreigners as another sign of weakness by the government.

He said, “The political will is not there right from the Presidency. The government is not giving the herdsmen the same attention it has accorded Boko Haram insurgents.

“If the claim is that the killers are foreigners, is that not a failure of governance?

“Will you allow foreigners to come into your country, kill your citizens and you keep quiet because you have cultural affinity with the killers?”

Another APC member, Mr. John Dyegh, told the House that there was a “misrepresentation” of the anti-grazing law passed by the Benue State House of Assembly by some interests, who were opposed to it.

He informed the House that an impression was created that the state government’s intention was to chase the Fulani out of Benue, adding that “this is far from the truth.”

Dyegh said, “All the government did was to say that herdsmen could buy land, settle in the state and ranch their cattle.

“Nobody said Fulani people should leave Benue. This is where the misrepresentation comes in.”

More speakers, including Mr. Rotimi Agunsoye, Mr. Oghene Emma-Igoh, Mr. Sergious Ose-Ogun, Mr. Teseer Mark-Gbillah and Ms. Funke Adedoyin, condemned the killings by the herdsmen.

In the meantime, the Senate at an extended plenary on Tuesday debated the killings by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State and other parts of Nigeria.

The lawmakers said their resolutions, which were later  conveyed to President Muhammadu Buhari by the leadership of the National Assembly, were “wake-up call” to the President and the Federal Government who “must” take urgent action on the crisis before it escalates.

They also resolved that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, “must” within 14 days arrest the herdsmen suspected to have killed over 70 persons in Benue State recently.

The debate followed the consideration and adoption of the report by the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of Security Infrastructure of Nigeria, after an investigative visit to Benue last weekend.

During the debate on the matter, which lasted about six hours, members of the Senate also spoke on restructuring of the country’s governance structure, state police and the “cattle colonies” being proposed by the Federal Government.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in his closing remarks after the debate, asked the Federal Government to take timely and drastic steps to end the crisis.

Saraki, while hailing the panel headed by the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, expressed condolences of the Senate to the people and government of Benue State, especially on those who lost their lives and properties to the attacks.

He said, “From the contributions by everybody today – we have taken our time, almost six hours just to deliberate on this issue – it is clear that this goes beyond religious or ethnic issues. It is a breakdown, really, of the security apparatus of the country. And it is a wake-up call that we must act now. Failure to act is an indictment on all of us.”

Saraki also made reference to the decision that the resolutions by the Senate must be conveyed to the President. He said the lawmakers appreciated Buhari’s invitation and meeting with the National Assembly’s leadership on the matter.

Several lawmakers, who spoke during the debate, identified various causes of the problem and recommended various solutions, some of which they argued over.

First to speak, Senator Barnabas Gemade, who is a member of the panel and a Benue indigene, urged security agencies to take action since Governor Samuel Ortom had claimed that the suspects were known to him (the governor) and the security agencies.

He said, “I do recall in the committee’s interactive session with the heads of security agencies in Benue State. It is at this meeting that security personnel did inform the committee that those harbouring foreign bandits were known and they had in fact compiled a list and sent it to Abuja, and that if the ‘high leadership’ requires to have the list they have sent to Abuja, heads of the Nigeria’s security organisations could be approached and they would provide that list.

“I will therefore recommend that in addition to the report by the committee, this may be one of the areas that the Senate can explore.”

Next was the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who urged the lawmakers to approach the matter with “a real sense of responsibility.”

“What we see now going on in the country is a situation of killings followed by retaliations. A responsible institution must rise to the occasion and say that enough is enough,” Ekweremadu stated.

He added that religious and ethnic leaders who were silent on the matter were now speaking out.

The Deputy Senate President gave examples of when and how state of emergency and coup detat were used legitimately in countries where there were urgent national issues, including the Arab Springs.

He therefore recommended declaration of a state of emergency in the country, noting that it would not vacate the current political leadership of the country.

The Deputy Senate President stressed that since there were claims of aliens crossing the borders to commit the crimes, the emergency could lead to shutting the borders. This, he stated, could be justified under international laws on the doctrine of necessity.

Contributing, Senator Shehu Sani, decried that the country was faced with a crisis but Nigerians were using ethnic, religious and sectional lenses to view it, making them to see an ethnic religious and sectional image.

“This is not the time for diplomacy; this is the time to provide leadership for a nation that is in national emergency and distraught,” he said.

Punch