Senators call for sack of Service Chiefs, raise alarm over persistent killings

The Deputy Senate President, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, has warned Senators that if the persistent killings across the country is not dealt with, it may render the legislators jobless.

This was even as the Senators asked the Federal Government to dismiss Service Chiefs over the continuous killings

Ekweremadu in his remarks on the motion sponsored by Senator Suleiman Adokwe on recent killings in Nasarawa South Senatorial District, said there must be solution to the recent killings across the country “even if the National Assembly is going to be shut down in order for us to interface with Executive on this matter”.

He said: “If they kill everybody, there will be no representatives and we will have no job.

“If it means shutting down the National Assembly to go and seek solution with the Executive, we can do that.

“We must have a country before we even talk about elections.

“If it were to be in other developed countries, these challenges will not take so long a time before it is addressed.

“We should not be ashamed to seek for help.

“We should not be reluctant to come out openly and seek help.”

Speaking on the motion, Senator Jeremiah Useni called for the sacking of Service Chiefs and other heads of security agencies based on the report submitted by the Senate ad-hoc committee.

Also speaking in line with Useni, Senator Adeola Olamilekan also called for the sacking of all Service Chiefs, saying since current security apparatus in the country cannot do the job, there is the need for fresh ideas to tackle the problem.

Adokwe had in his motion said the armed militia were occupying four out of the 15 local governments in Nasarawa State, revealing that several dead bodies and wounded individuals were found as a result of the crisis.

Also contributing to the motion, Senator Philip Gyunka said: “This act is barbaric.

“This is disheartening, seeing people killed.

“Some people have been identified as the killers.

“We cannot fold our hands and do nothing about it.

“We should urge the Federal Government to face up to these people.”

After exhaustive deliberations on the matter, the Senate mandated an ad-hoc committee to investigate the cause of the killings and also asked the relevant agencies to provide relief materials for the victims.