Senate gives Police IG 14 days to arrest, prosecute Benue killers

The Senate has given the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, 14 days to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of violence in Benue State.

A Senate report on Wednesday said ‘faceless people’ were sponsoring and harbouring foreign mercenaries who have been killing people in Benue and other parts of Nigeria.

The Senate’s interim report by the ad-hoc committee on the review of the current security infrastructure in Nigeria noted that the situation in Benue is a manifestation of the larger security crisis in Nigeria.

The chairman of the committee, Ahmed Lawan, who led the committee on a visit to Benue State, presented the report on Tuesday.

In an ideal democratic society where things are working, the IGP is not expected to wait for the Senate or presidential directive to arrest or prosecute Benue killers. But even with this directive, neither the IGP nor other security personnel have arrested any of the perpetrators.

So worrisome is the fact that the killers have continued to kill people unhindered before the 14 days ultimatum handed down to IGP by the Senate expires.

So of what effect or importance is the Senate’s directive to IGP? Is this not enough to show that Nigeria needs urgent restructuring for peaceful co-existence? Why is President Buhari reluctant in deploying soldiers to Benue State to tackle the killer herdsmen before they put the country into another round of security crisis?