The Senate on Wednesday in Abuja condemned the Adamawa killings and urged the Federal Government to expeditiously apprehend the perpetrators of the act and bring them to book.
The Senate took these decisions following a debate on? matter brought through a motion sponsored by Sen. Bindowo??Jibrilla (PDP-Adamawa).
It will be recalled that more than 20 students of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, were killed on Monday by gunmen.
Jibrilla? had in his lead debate called on ?government to put in place machinery that would ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said it was indeed a bad day for the country that such an act would be carried out on innocent students.
“Some are the only children; some are the hopes of their families, while others are investments. You can imagine the pains to these families.
Ekweremadu expressed worry that it was not an isolated case, but that it was being replicated ?everywhere in the South East, saying that it was evil and condemnable.
“What happened in Mubi is a failure of security, whether it is robbery, or Boko Haram, it is the inability of security agents to secure the people.
“It is painful that at this level of development, they are still playing politics with the lives of our people. If we cannot provide security, we provide nothing.
He said if it meant moving all the Police and Army to the northern part of the country?to save the people, it should be done.
Sen. Mohammed Tukur (PDP-Adamawa) in his contribution said up till now, no one knew the cause of the mayhem which had led to a large number of people leaving Mubi toward Yola.
?“It is a matter of serious concern to every Nigerian. Nobody can say what led to the mayhem in Mubi, but I am aware that people are leaving Mubi in large numbers toward Yola.
Tukur asked that urgent measures should be taken to curtail this dastardly act as it may extend to Yola and Jalingo, if care was not taken.
In his contribution, Sen. Aweisu Kuta (PDP-Niger) expressed concern that the higher institutions were now being targeted.
Kuta expressed worry that the country? was gradually ?moving to anarchy and nobody seemed to have solutions to what was happening.
“Some of these started as armed robbery and has now graduated to anarchy. In the whole of the north east, the economy is grinding to a halt,’’ he said.
Kuta said that that was beyond ?a religious matter, adding that in spite of all the money spent annually on security, nobody had solutions to the problem.
“ It is important to look at the security agents again, let them say why they are failing and if there is need to look for other solutions,’’ he said.
On her part, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu (ACN-Lagos) said that Nigeria was a nation under siege, adding that the country had never experienced what it was currently going through.
“ Everyone will notice that the rate of unemployment and poverty are high and for me, the present administration has not declared dividends of democracy to the people.
The Senate President, David Mark, on his part said the act was unacceptable, adding that every state government in the country was responsible for providing security to the citizens of the state.
“I think this is a very serious issue and if we don’t tackle the real issue and we begin to go on diversionary expeditions, then, we will be missing the point.
“The security challenges before us in this country are grievious and we have to tackle them headlong.
“The Mubi killings, even if it’s just attacking the symptoms now, those involved must be brought to book, ’’ he said.
Mark was of the view that capital punishment be brought to the test in this particular case, to perhaps serve as a deterrent to others.
“ I know that this is a democracy and with due respect to all of us, capital punishment is still in our statute. This is an opportunity for us to test it.
`It will be used as deterrent to others and that has to be done as fast and as speedy as possible. Crimes take place in other countries but the reaction of the government is what matters.
“ But when they happen in this country, after a week, we just try to forget it and wait for the next one to happen,’’he added.
?The Senate also observed one minute silence in honour of those who were killed in the Mubi shooting.(NAN)