Plateau Killings: Saraki, Dogara Hold Meeting With Buhari
BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – The two principal presiding officers of the National Assembly – the President of the Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the killings in Plateau State.
In a statement personally signed by Speaker Dogara, states that the leadership of the National Assembly requested for the meeting in order to hear from President Buhari on the steps and measures he is taking to end the orgy of killings and violence not only on the Plateau but in other parts of the country.
Dogara reiterated his earlier call for a total reform and overhaul of the nation’s internal security architecture which has failed to address the spate of insecurity in the land.
The Speaker said the President briefed them on what he saw firsthand when he visited Plateau state on Tuesday and the measures he is putting in place to forestall recurrence.
According to Dogara; “The President has taken enough steps and told us what he is doing especially the reorganisation that he plans to put in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
“We also used the opportunity to advise the President on other measures and actions that will help bring lasting peace in our country in accordance with the resolutions passed at the joint emergency closed-door session of the National Assembly held some weeks ago.”
The Speaker said that these are very sober moments for all Nigerians, adding that in a situation where people, in hundreds continued to be killed, the National Assembly can no longer tolerate this kind of situation as a government.
He called on all relevant government agencies to quickly provide emergency relief services to people in the affected areas.
Dogara assured that the House of Representatives and indeed the National Assembly will continue to work towards providing all necessary legislative backing to the security agencies more especially funding needed to reform and equip our armed forces to tackle the prevailing security challenges confronting us as a nation.
He offered his condolences to families of victims of violence in Zamfara, Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Borno, Yobe and other places and urge our citizens to embrace peace without which there can be no meaningful development.
Earlier in the day while briefing State House correspondents, Speaker Dogara announced shortly after the meeting with the president, saying that President Buhari is planning to overhaul the security apparatus as a result of the spate of killings in parts of the country.
