President Writes Senate, Lists Steps Taken On Benue Killings

President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate explaining steps he has taken on the killings perpetrated by herdsmen across the country.

In a letter read by Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday, the president took exception to Senate’s position that he had done nothing so far to address the country’s failing security infrastructure.

The letter dated January 25, 2018, stated that it is incorrect for the senate to say that he has not done anything about the killings. He said that the police are working to apprehend those behind the attacks.

He added that the Federal Government is putting in place measures to forestall the reoccurrence of further killings in Benue and other parts of the country.

After narrating the steps he claimed to have taken to avert further killings, the president said:
“To infer therefore that nothing has been done, is incorrect. The police are strenuously working to apprehend the rest of the culprits of these heartless killings.”

He said that he had instructed the IGP to “relocate to Benue State and redeploy forces to the most sensitive towns, adding that the Federal Government “is initiating measures to address these and other security challenges, alleviate the consequence of these attacks and forestall reoccurrence.”

And the Senate said it would not allow the killings to be swept under the carpet as it ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to appear before it to explain why the police had not arrested the masterminds of the killings in Benue and other parts of the country earlier this year.

Buhari’s letter further reads: “You may recall that I told you of the following steps taken as soon as the information came in to me about the Benue killings. One, on Thursday 4th January, I sent the minister of interior and the deputy inspector-general of police in charge of operations for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.

“Two, on Friday 5th January, the inspector-general of police briefed me verbally on the latest situation, calm had then been restored.
“Three, on Monday 8th, the minister of interior met with the following, governors of Adamawa, Kaduna, Niger, Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa together with the DG of the State Security Services, Inspector-General of Police, CG Civil Defence, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and police commissioner of the six aforementioned states.’’

The President also stated that after the meeting he instructed the minister of interior to brief you on the information gathered so far and steps taken.

The president also said that “On December 19 to be precise, while receiving the report of the committee that was set up to review the technical and administrative structure of the NIA, I underscored the need review the entire national security architecture as I promised in my inaugural address on May 29, 2015, action is being initiated to receive maximum cooperation from the senate in line with paragraph three of the Senate resolutions,” it read.

Meanwhile, the Senate has mandated its committee on education to probe the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), to ascertain why it remitted low revenue into the federation account before 2016.

This resolution yesterday followed an adopted order 43 moved by senator Dino Melaye which deals with matters of personal explanation.

From The Guardian