The House of Representatives has urged the Nigeria Police Force to conduct an “exhaustive investigation” of the gruesome murder of a former member of the House and Commissioner for Science and Technology in Katsina State, Dr Rabe Nasir.
The House also asked the police to that “everyone complicit in the murder is brought to book.”
The call was based on the motion moved by a member, Isansi Iro, at the plenary on Wednesday. It was titled ‘Need to Investigate the Assassination of Dr. Rabe Nasir in Katsina State.’
Iro noted that Nasir was assassinated in his residence in the Katsina metropolis on December 2, 2021, at night by unidentified gunmen.
He said, “The House is concerned about the increasing rate of insecurity, especially in the North. However, assassination is a new phenomenon in Katsina and other North-West states of the country.
“The House is worried that the murder of Dr Nasir has further triggered anxiety and apprehension amongst the people of Katsina metropolis and the state at large, as they have been living in constant fear for their lives.
“The House is cognisant of the overwhelming need for security agencies to thoroughly investigate the assassination of Dr Nasir, with a view to bringing the culprits to book and allay peoples fear as regards their safety in the state.”
Meanwhile, the House also urged the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to “deploy all necessary means at his disposal to apprehend the armed robbers that perpetrated the robberies in the banks and killings of innocent citizens.”
The House also urged the Federal Government to ensure the permanent presence of security apparatus in communities within Yagba East/Yagba West/Mopa-muro Federal Constituency in Kogi State to deter recurrence of the banks robberies and criminal activities in the area.
The lawmaker representing the constituency, Leke Abejide, had moved a motion of urgent public importance at the plenary on Wednesday, on the need to stem the recurring bank robberies in the constituency and ensure that lives and properties of citizens are protected.
Abejide said, “The House notes with serious concern, for the umpteenth time, on Tuesday, December 14, at about 3:30 pm, how heavily armed robbers, again, attacked three commercial banks in Egbe, Ogbere in Yagba-West Local Government Area of Kogi State, carting away undisclosed amount of monies and in the process wasting lives of several innocent citizens while several others sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries.
“The robbery, which lasted two hours, witnessed the use of explosives and heavy gunshots within counter-response from security operatives.
“The House laments the predictable pattern of bank robberies in the area, with gross failure of counter-response, as men of the underworld always enjoy free reign at each instance of these attacks on banks and innocent people in the community.
“The House is alarmed by the gross failure and absence of viable intelligence and security cover in the community and farmers scared of going to farm for fear of being killed.
“This is coupled with the absence of banking activities, as they will now travel hundreds of kilometres in order to access banking operations, as commercial banks are forced to close down operations in the major towns of my constituency.”
Copyright PUNCH.
