By Patrick Andrew
Delegates to the National Conference have urged the Federal Government to immediately commence implementation of the Gaji Galmatiri Committee report, which recommended the prosecution of some politicians found to be sponsoring acts of terrorism in the country, especially the Boko Haram insurgency.
The delegates were reacting to yesterday’s bomb explosion at Nyanyan Motor Park, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, where several lives were lost and dozens of vehicles burnt.
Chief Dan Iwuanyanwu had moved a motion urging the conference to rise in condemnation of the killings in Nyanyan, Abuja and other places where insurgency has wasted the lives of many innocent Nigerians.
“There must an enemy within. I want the conference to condemn the killing of Nigerians by criminals by whatever names they are called. We want to urge the security agencies to take further and immediate steps to stop these killings so that Nigerians will not be dying like chickens. We want to urge the security agencies to use their best endeavours to stop further killing,” he said.
Supporting the motion, Chief Mike Ozekhome seconded it by calling on all in rise in condemnation of terrorism because one does not know who will be the next target of the insurgents and callous attention will in the long run be detrimental to all.
The conference overwhelmingly agreed by calling for rising up in total condemnation of the killing in the suburb of Abuja, in early hours of yesterday.
Also, Isha’q Moddibo Kawu, one of the two representatives of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, sponsored a motion that sought to draw the attention of the Federal Government to the spates of acts of terrorism in different parts of Nigeria.
The Chairman of the Editorial Board of Blueprint Newspapers argued that several months after the presidency declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, insurgency has still to abate and therefore wondered the efficacy of the emergency rule.
However, Sergeant Awuse, sought to kill the motion by raising a point of order in which he insisted that since delegates were not served prior notice as such the conference cannot entertain such motion.
Several delegates did not take kindly to Awuse’s technicality and therefore shouted him down even as Salatu Ibrahim, seconded this, stressing that it was high time the government got serious by implementing the recommendations of the Gaji Galmatiri Committee.
Rising to second the motion with an addendum, Human Rights Activist, Chief Femi Falana, cited Order 1 Rule 2 which says no formalization is required on issue of urgent national importance. He said the Galmatiri committee’s report must be implemented to curb further acts of terrorism.
This was overwhelmingly adopted by the delegates who urged the federal government to immediately swing into action by exposing and persecuting elements found to be sponsoring whatever forms of insurgency in the country.
Similarly, the Conference also urged the federal government to immediately commence a process of reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas, adding this will ameliorate the sufferings of the victims, their families as well as breathe new life into the traumatized area.
