Reps urge deployment of soldiers to ravaged Agatu communities

HURIWA calls for IGP’s sack over attacks on civilians
THE House of Representatives yesterday asked the authorities to deploy soldiers to communities affected by violent attacks in Agatu, to avert further bloodshed and destruction of properties.

Adopting a motion sponsored by Adamu Entonu, (Agatu: Benue: PDP) at the plenary session presided by Speaker Yakubu Dogara, the lawmakers directed soldiers that would be eventually deployed to the troubled area to remain there.

Urging the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to the affected communities and survivors, they pleaded with the authorities to include the over 25 villages destroyed by the violent attack in its planned rehabilitation of victims of terror attacks.

The lawmakers who observed a minute silence in honour of the victims, mandated the committees on the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Public Safety and Intelligence to visit and asses the situation of displaced persons in Agatu council of Benue State and report back to the House within four weeks.

Entonu disclosed that no fewer than 145 persons were killed aside dozen others who sustained injuries following attacks by gunmen on Agatu villages.

Noting that the attacks, which started on the 22nd of this month is still ongoing, he justified the need for the deployment of soldiers thus: “I am concerned that such attacks have been re-occurring in Agatu local government area for the past five years without any positive response from government even when I raised a similar motion in the 7th Assembly.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for the dismissal of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase and the Director General of Department of State Security for their failure to stop the killing of civilians by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The rights group in a statement by the National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf also condemned the continuous massacre of villagers in Agatu by armed marauders.

“The IGP must resign or be sacked since he is incapable of checking these widening spectre of mass killings but is busy giving incoherent reasons for his incapacity and gross professional incompetence. We wonder why the Inspector General of Police is playing politics with the lives of Nigerians by failing to tackle the mass genocides going on all across Nigeria.”