Reps caucus leader, CSO decry Ebonyi killings, urge action

DEPUTY Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Toby Okechukwu, has decried recent killings in Ebonyi State, saying the development calls for state police in Nigeria.

The Aninri/ Awgu/ Oji River Federal Constituency of Enugu State representative urged action on the reports of the 2014 National Conference and the Governor Nasir El- Rufai- led All Progressives Congress ( APC) Committee on True Federalism.

He said: “This continued carnage as evident from the attack in Ebonyi is a clear indication that things are really falling apart. This massacre of hapless citizens is another sad reminder that we are in a season of anomie where innocent people are unexpectedly mowed down in cold blood without consequences. “The advertent or inadvertent encouragement of ethic militias to levy war on all parts of the country is a clear manifestation of a nation- state that has abdicated its Leviathan responsibility to protect the lives and properties of her citizens.

“It is unbelievable that nonstate actors brandishing AK47 and other lethal weapons can hold a nationstate of over 200 million people to ransom, undetected, unchallenged and without any consequences. “It is very apparent from all indications that the Federal Government has lost the initiative to preempt, curtail, mitigate or solve these devilish attacks and bloodletting. It is also very apparent from our security policy and its present architecture that citizens cannot be protected or assured of protection. Clearly, the APC government has lost its commission and mandate for which it was hired in 2019.”

Okechukwu urged President Muhammadu Buhari, security agencies and leaders at every level to rise up to the challenge or risk being the undertakers of the federation.

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IMILARLY, a civil society organisation ( CSO), Victims of Persecution, deplored the assault.

Its Rappoteur, ChukwumaMachukwu Ume ( SAN), in a statement yesterday, accused the Federal Government of not doing enough to end the killings in the country.

Ume, who is also a former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Imo State, regretted the frequent attacks on innocent citizens nationwide.