The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has condemned the reported killing of young men and women by security operatives in parts of the South East, all in the name of quelling disturbances.
He made the condemnation at the plenary session of the Senate on Tuesday, when he came under Order 43 of the Senate Standing Rule, to draw the attention of the Upper Chamber to the bloodbath in the South-East region of the country on Monday.
The Deputy President of the Senate further noted that the country had recorded so much bloodshed in various parts of the country recently, as such security agencies must apply caution in quelling perceived disturbances in any part of country whatsoever, so as to prevent young men and women from being sent to their untimely graves.
His words: “Those of us who had the opportunity of looking at the papers this morning would know that most of the newspapers had front page stories of bloodbath in the South-East. Yesterday, I had a number of calls about the disturbing clash between youths in different parts of the South-East, South-South and security agencies, leading to the death of many people; both the young men and security personnel.
“I would like to use this opportunity under Order 43 to say that the security agencies must apply caution in trying to quell disturbances. We have had so much of bloodbath in this country under different circumstances and we cannot continue to lose our young men because the future of this country belongs to them.
“It is important that we rise to condemn any act of killing in any part of this country, especially the ones that concern the major part of our future, which remains the young men and women of this country.
“We are now in a democracy and people should be entitled to speak their minds; to assemble under responsible and lawful circumstances; and the security agencies must also be responsible in dealing with those circumstances to ensure that lives are not lost unnecessarily.
“I wish to bring this to the notice of the Senate for us to take note and possibly for the States involved to set up enquiries to find out what led to these clashes; the number of people lost and to ensure that this does not happen in the future”.