Nigeria tilting towards failed state –Senators

Fred Itua, Abuja

Senate, yesterday, decried the spate of killings in different parts of the country and warned that Nigeria was gradually tilting towards a failed state.

Senators made the remarks following the adoption of a resolution sponsored by Atai Aidoko at plenary over the killing of 32 people in Omale and Dekina local government areas of Kogi State on Wednesday. Adoko said 20 people were killed in Ogane-Enugu community in Dekina and 12 in Agbejukolo, Agbenema communities in Omala council. But the confirmed 20 dead.

“Despite continued condemnation of killings in many parts of the country, perpetrators of this dastardly act have not been arrested. I want this Senate to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to direct security agencies to bring the situation under control by arresting the perpetrators and ensure that they are prosecuted. This killing is taking another dimension as the killers also amputate peoples hands,” he said.

Emmanuel Paulker, in his remarks, said government has lost count of the number of Nigerians killed everyday by armed herdsmen and other bandits.

He warned that if urgent steps were not taken to salvage the situation, the country would run into serious crisis.

In his contribution, Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, called on the Senate to work closely with the executive to enhance the efficiency of security agencies in combating crime in the country.

While noting that security agencies in the country were overstretched, Lawan expressed worry that the number of policemen guarding the communities were inadequate.

Enyinnaya Abaribe, in his remarks, came hard on President Buhari, who he claimed was not in charge. He also chastised the president over what he described as his frequent buck passing.

“The president is always passing blames. He blames every other person, but himself. He tells us every time that he does not know what is happening in the country. How can a President utter such words?

“If the president does not know what is happening in a country like Nigeria, how can we be safe? We should call the president to order and tell him to do the job he was elected to do. He should stop claiming that he does not know what is happening and do the needful,” he cautioned.

Abaribe’s remarks sparked uproar with Lawan and Gbenga Ashafa raising a point of order and urging the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to call him to order.

On his part, James Manager blamed the continued killing on non-arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators while Adamu Aliero called for the implementation of recommendations of the recently held National Security summit recently organised by the Senate in conjunction with the executive arm.

The Lawan-led committee on National Security Infrastructure is yet to submit recommendations reached at the summit.

Saraki assure that the Senate would work towards finding solutions to insecurity in the country.

“Let us be patriotic because this situation is unacceptable,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, former Senate Leader and member representing Borno South, Mohammed Ali Ndume, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr. Supo Ayokunle and former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, have disagreed on the issue.

While the CAN scribe agreed with the position of lawmakers, Ndume and Mohammed said lawmakers were part of the problem.

The three spoke in separate interviews with Daily Sun.

Ndume said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) handed over a failed state to the APC-led government. He also contended that lawmakers, who claim that the country was tilting towards a failed state, were part of the failure.

Ndume who is a close ally of President Buhari, said it was wrong for lawmakers to use the plenary as a launchpad to attack the Federal Government, which he said the parliament was part of.

But speaking through his media aide, Mr. Bayo Oladimeji, the CAN president said: “If senators are saying that the country is like a failed state, I think they have a reason. The president must rise up to the occasion, otherwise, a lot of people may begin to take laws into their hands and that will not help the nation.”

Mohammed, on his part, said the National Assembly has lost the right to speak on an issue like this. “They (lawmakers) have failed to represent the people. They have only succeeded in representing themselves and their interest. If Nigeria is becoming a failed state, members of the National Assembly are directly responsible. Most lawmakers are bunch of thieves. They pocket N14 million every month in the name of serving in the National Assembly.”