Killings: Reps Want Increased Security Presence In Plateau, Ekiti

In an effort to stop the killing spree in Plateau and Ekiti, the House of Representatives has urged the Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the leaders of other security agencies to send more troops to high-crime areas.

At the resumption of plenary on the House floor on Tuesday, motions of urgent public importance sponsored by Ishaya Lalu and Akin Rotimi, members representing the federal constituencies of Bokkos/Mangu and Ikole/Oye in the Plateau and Ekiti states, respectively, were adopted, and the House then adopted the resolution.

Naija News reports that the Committee on House Services Deputy Chairman, Lalu, cited Order 8 Rule 4 of the House to remind everyone that on January 24, 2024, “There was another attack on the People of Mangu Local Government Areas of Plateau State killing more than 50 persons, others seriously injured, with over 1,000 houses and other properties worth billions of naira completely destroyed with about 20, 000 people displaced at different internally displaced persons camps within and outside the Local Government Area.”

After the motion was adopted, the House decided to form a committee to look into the immediate cause of the ongoing terrorist attacks in the Plateau State local government areas of Mangu, Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom. It also urged the CDS to create a Civilian Joint Task Force in Plateau State.

Until the insecurity is brought under control, the House directed the Committees on Defense and Legislative Compliance “to ensure compliance and furnish the House with a weekly report.”

The escalating wave of criminal activity in the Ikole/Oye Federal Constituency, which he claimed resulted in the loss of lives and priceless properties, was also bemoaned by a tearful Rotimi, who was presiding over the debate on The need for security agencies to urgently stem the tide of criminality ravaging Ekiti State.

He claims that the constituency faces unusual security difficulties due to the nature of our forests and topography, and more painfully because Ekiti Federal roads are some of the most dilapidated in the entire country.

Rotimi, who doubles as the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs recalled that on Monday, “These criminals carried out a dastardly attack in the Oke-Ako area in Ikole Local Government Area resulting in the death of two traditional rulers: the Onimojo of Imojo Ekiti, Oba Olatunji Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti, Oba David Ogunsola and leaving a host of others with life-threatening injuries.”

The House requested, Chief of Army Staff Taoreed Lagbaja, to redeploy military forces to the outpost along the Oke-Ako area in order to improve security and prevent a recurrence of the attacks after the motion was adopted.

It further ordered the IGP, the Commandant General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and other security organizations to send additional personnel to Ekiti North 1 and make sure that the perpetrators of those heinous crimes are apprehended and prosecuted.

Additionally, it demanded that the Ayedun to Irele road and other roads in the Federal Constituency be immediately restored by the Ministry of Works and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency.

The legislators also asked security services to take all necessary steps to save the adopted teachers and students in Emure, Ekiti.