ABUJA – Senate of the Federal Republic yesterday condemned armed attack on Wase and urged the military to wade in and effectively put a stop to the terrorist attacks in the land.
This is even as the Senate assigned its committee on Armed Forces to meet with the military high command with a view to enlisting their expeditious action on the matter.
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the session sounded, “we condemn it and hope it will come to an end at the shortest possible time”.
“Since we are sure whether this attack came from the Armed Forces or Insurgents or armed militia, let me quickly suggest that the Committee on Defense should contact the military high command to verify the identity of those who carried out this attack
Our paryer is that, we should see to the end of this insurgency in any form whether it is the military, armed militia or insurgency or any form of attack on ordinary citizens.
On behalf of my colleague let me say that we sympathize with the people of Wase LGA and indeed the good people of Plateau state for this unfortunate incident”, he added.
Coming under Order 43 of the Senate Rules, Sen. Victor Lar (Plateau South) noted that on Saturday the 2nd of May 2015, armed men wearing Nigerian Army uniform in about 11 hilux vehicles and one truck raided Wase LGA.
“In the process, they sacked five villages, killed over 50 people, wounded over 100 and more than 20,000 people are displaced and they are seeking refuge in Langtan South LGA.
The immediate cause of the attack is not known. We suspect that these are armed militias, or Boko Haram or soldiers but they are using Nigerian Army uniforms and they are using equipment that are exclusively known and reserved for use by the Nigerian Army.
Their operations tended to imply that they are not genuine Nigerian army personnel because they used machetes to hack down people, they shot at and killed women and children, they killed uniform policemen and civil defence personnel, they burnt down every house within reach and they used petrol to burn the bodies of the victims that they killed.
These are war crimes against humanity and they violate the provisions of the Geneva Convention.
The essence of making these explanation is that, when our brothers and sisters in the North-East were under the heavy yoke of insurgency and they were operation that tended to imply that it was either the army or Boko Haram, this senate took the wise decision of listening and sending a committee to investigate and report it.
I plead with my colleagues that it is the lives of Nigerians that is at stake; it is the professional performance of the Armed Forces that is at stake; it may happen in any other district.
I plead that this Senate shows the usual understanding it has been showing in attending to the plight of members of my constituency”, he continued.
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