Senator Saraki directs Senate panel to assess Zamfara killings

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has directed the Senate ad-hoc committee on security to visit Zamfara for an assessment of the violence that recently occurred in the state.

He announced this on his official Twitter account on Monday where he also stated that the panel will return to plenary to give its reports.



The directive came weeks after a senator from the state, Kabir Marafa, lamented the repeated mass killings by armed bandits in the state.

Mr. Marafa, while calling for a Senate investigation, said hundreds of people had been killed and scores of women and girls raped by armed persons in the state.

The Senate had in November 2017 set up the ad-hoc Committee on the Review of Security Infrastructure in Nigeria, chaired by Ahmed Lawan, the Senate Majority Leader.

The committee has since visited Benue following the New Year day killings in the state, and is now set to visit Zamfara to assess the situation in the North-west state.

In a tweet, Mr. Saraki said: “I have directed the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Security to visit Zamfara on Tuesday in order to get a first-hand assessment of the security situation in the state and report back to plenary.”

He also commended the response of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to the attack in Rann, Borno State, describing the commitment of the world body to stay in Northeast Nigeria as commendable.

“I commend the @UN Secretary-General @AntonioGuterres for his commitment to remain in Northeast Nigeria following the recent attack on civilians, humanitarian workers and security operatives. Those responsible must be brought to book,” he said.

Mr. Saraki is currently in Ghana on the invitation of Aaron Ocquaye, the Speaker of that country’s parliament, and is scheduled to address the parliament on the commemoration of 25 years of uninterrupted parliamentary democracy in Ghana, on the topic “The Future of Good Governance in Africa.”