Senators, Aisha Yesufu, group blame Buhari for raging carnage

Representative of Kaduna Central, Bayelsa East and Jos North senatorial districts in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, Benedict Murray-Bruce, and Jonah David Jang have condemned the recent killing of scores in Gashish District of Plateau State. They attributed the ceaseless massacre in parts of the country to the seeming indifference of President Muhammadu Buhari and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration to the menace.

They particularly accused the President of failing in its constitutional duty of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.

Describing the Plateau’s pogrom by suspected herdsmen on Sunday as “unfortunate” Sani and Murray-Bruce argued that the APC government has not been fair in ensuring justice and equity for the citizenry, adding that “the time has come for Nigerians to say enough is enough to the mindless killings in the country.”

The federal lawmakers alleged that some members of the Senate were being harassed by a cabal within the government.

Sani said: “The ruling party has not been fair in ensuring justice and equity for the nation. We are in a very serious period of our country where anybody who is not a supporter of the government is criminalised and framed up for one alleged crime or the other.

“The nation is still being controlled by a cabal holding the country by the jugulars. It is not save for people to criticise or express their opinions any longer. This is not democracy, where freedom of expression and right to criticise are respected.

“I wonder why the South West which has been known to express civilised criticisms against bad leadership and resist autocratic tendencies has become suddenly cold.”

According to Murray-Bruce, “today in Nigeria, there is insecurity. We have been intimidated. Senate President Bukola Saraki, Dino Melaye, and Abaribe, are harassed and persecuted for same alleged criminal connivance with some miscreants’ activities. It is difficult to understand what is happening. Democracy should be nurtured and not destroyed by political witch-hunt.”

Both spoke on Sunday night at the Summit Centre, Ikeja, Lagos while being honoured for defending democracy by the Hall of Grace (HOG) magazine.

Jang, in a statement yesterday by his Media Consultant, Mr. Clinton Garuba, described the attacks as genocide geared at wiping out the ancestral owners from their land.

The statement reads in part: “These continued killings are fast becoming a coordinated genocide aimed at annihilating our people and stealing our God-given heritage. As one who is particular about the welfare and well-being of the people, the senator’s heart is with the families of all those who have been deliberately and mercilessly separated from their loved ones for eternity.”

According to rights activist, Hajia Yesufu, the President’s seeming inaction was fuelling the mayhem.

Speaking on the sideline of a one-day forum to share the preliminary results of the Bring Back our Girls (BBOG) study organised by the Centre for Development and Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR), she pointed at the inability of the Buhari administration to tackle the menace posed by killer herdsmen and cattle rustler in the polity.

For alleged failure, the Advocacy for Integrity and Economic Development (AIED) has called on the leadership of the National Assembly to declare the office of the President and Commander-in-Chief vacant.

In a statement yesterday by its Director of Media and Publicity, Comrade O’Seun John, the group stated that the mayhem in the land was a clear indication that the control of the country is “no longer in the hands of President Muhammadu Buhari.”