Nigeria being painted red with blood of the innocent, says Speaker

Speaker Yakubu Dogara says says the country is being painted red with the blood of innocent Nigerians.

Delivering his welcome address at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, January 16, 2018, Speaker Dogara noted that the solution to the mindless killings and bloodletting lies in the ability to shun buck passing, while the government lives up to its responsibility of providing security for the lives of every Nigerian, irrespective of where they live.

Reacting to the killings in Benue and other parts of the country, the Speaker there were no sanctuaries anywhere in the country for killers and other hardened criminals who feed on the blood of other people.

“We are all painfully aware of the wave of murders of innocent Nigerians that has been sweeping through the nation,” Speaker Dogara said

“From the senseless killings in Rivers State, to the killing rampages in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna, Zamfara, Adamawa, Edo and other States; our dear country is now being painted red with the blood of the innocents on account of unremitting bedlam callously promoted by cold hearted merchants of death.

“On behalf of the House of Representatives, I wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the governments, people, and especially families of those who have lost loved ones in these primitive, mindless and despicable rounds of bloodletting across our dear country.

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“At these moments of intense outpouring of grief across the nation, it is important that we shun buck passing and accept responsibility for these wanton killings without which we will never find a solution to this evil. We cannot afford to fold our hands and pretend that all is well with our country.

“We cannot throw up our hands in defeat. We have a responsibility to all Nigerians regardless of creed or ethnicity in line with the constitutionally stated primary purpose of the government we serve in, which is securing the welfare including the lives and property of our people.

“This we must do by ensuring that every law abiding Nigerian is protected where ever he chooses to live in the country and everyone who is up in arms against our citizens is quickly brought to justice where ever they are in the country. That there are no sanctuaries anywhere in the country for killers and other hardened criminals who feed on the blood of our people."

Speaker Dogara urged the federal government to ensure the security of lives of the citizens.

“We have a responsibility to all Nigerians regardless of creed or ethnicity in line with the constitutionally stated primary purpose of the government we serve in, which is securing the welfare including the lives and property of our people.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate has issued a fourteen-day ultimatum to the inspector-general of Police to arrest those behind the killings in Benue.