Senate to FG: Address general insecurity in the country

… says no Service Chief will take a bow during screening

By Haruna Salami

The Senate has called on the Federal Government to address the general insecurity and incessant attacks on Plateau state and other troubled parts of the country.

This was sequel to a motion to that effect sponsored by Senator Plang Diket Satso (Plateau Central) at plenary on Tuesday.

The Senate noted the general insecurity and continued attacks on communities in Plateau State, a state known for its hospitality, peace and tourism was of great concern.

According to the upper chamber, “the past decade has seen recurrent crises across the state, especially in rural areas, where insecurity has become a major issue that any administrations in the state has to contend with.

“There is no respite; the cycle of killings and kidnappings has continued unabated, despite all efforts by successive administrations at the state and federal levels to tame the ugly trend”.

Speaking with journalists after plenary, Senator Plang said with his motion Service Chiefs should be ready to answer critical questions during screening by the Senate as “no Service Chief will take a bow and go”, a practice used in the past to shield nominees of the president from answering questions.

On whether to dialogue with bandits as suggested by Ahmed Yerima Bakura, former governor of Zamfara state during his recent visit to President Tinubu, Plang said “as I’m seated here, my house in the village was attacked twice, in the first instance when I was contesting election for Senate; kidnappers came and kidnapped my mother, step mother, the girl that worked for me in the house then killed my younger brother who came who came out to react.

He said he paid ransom because he was told that if he didn’t do so he would have “more dead bodies to bury”. The payment led to the release of all his people taken captive.

However, he said punishment is for correction, adding that “even God knows we are not perfect and God gives us the grace to repent. When we repent he accepts us.

“If there is genuine repentance, we should accommodate it. Sometimes, if there is a true repentance from a criminal, give him a room; he might be a preacher”.

Giving the example of Paul in the Bible, he said “Paul was a killer, persecuting Christians, but he was arrested and became a perfect Christian. So, we should be able to give opportunity to people with genuine repentance”.

Therefore, the Senate “called on the Service Chiefs to carry out on the spot assessment of insecurity in the troubled parts to give our people a sense of belonging and also serve as impetus for the military operations in those affected local government areas”.