Lawmakers Ask Police to Investigate Assassination of Katsina Commissioner
Also abduction of engineers in Ebonyi
Udora Orizu in Abuja
The House of Representatives has urged the Nigeria Police Force to conduct exhaustive investigations into the gruesome murder of Katsina State Commissioner of Science and Technology, Dr Rabe Nasir and ensure that everyone complicit in the murder is brought to book.
The lawmakers resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Isansi Sallsu Iro. Moving his motion, Iron noted the media reports that the Katsina State Commissioner for Science and Technology and former member of the House of Representatives, Dr Rabe Nasir, was assassinated in his residence in the Katsina metropolis on Wednesday, 2 December 2021 at night by unidentified gunmen.
While expressing concerns about the increasing rate of insecurity, especially in the North, he, however, said assassination is a new phenomenon in Katsina and other North-West states of the country.
He was worried that the murder of 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.
He added that there was overwhelming need for security agencies to thoroughly investigate the assassination of Nasir with a view to bringing the culprits to book and allay peoples fear as regards their safety in the state.
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its committee on police affairs to ensure compliance.
In a similarly development, the House of Representatives has urged the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba to ensure a thorough investigation into the disappearance of the Five NELAN Consultant Engineers in Effium, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The House also mandated its Committees on Police Affairs, and National Security and Intelligence to ensure compliance.
The resolution of the lawmakers followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Ifeanyi Chudy Momah.
Moving the motion, Momah noted that on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, five Engineers from NELAN Consultants, an Engineering Firm, who were supervising the Abakiliki Ring Road Project were abducted at Onu-Nwenewo village in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
He listed the names and origin of the abductees as Nelson Onyemeh from Ihiala in Anambra State, Ernest Edeani from Nkanu in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Ikechukwu Ejiofor from Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, Samuel Aneke from Nkanu in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State and Stanley Nwazulum from Amawbia in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
He explained that the project the NELAN 5 were supervising, according to a National daily report of August 23, 2017, is valued at $150 million s and financed by the African Development Bank (AIDB), and during its commissioning, the Governor of
Ebonyi State charged the people to support state government in providing adequate security for the workers during the eighteen months’ period of the contract.
He expressed concerns that the Ebonyi State government allegedly released a rather premature news of the death and burial of the NELAN 5 to the general public during a security summit organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria, Abakiliki chapter without consulting with the families of the victims first.
He further expressed concerns that the Ebonyi State Government has been accused of being complicit in the disappearance of the engineers as the
State Governor was alleged to have been hostile towards the consultants and tried severally to interfere in their operations.
Momah said that if the true condition of the victims is not properly ascertained, the people’s confidence in the ability of the government to protect them will further deteriorate.
He added that further delay in conducting thorough investigations will create more complications as trails may run cold, giving the perpetrators enough time to alter evidences and maybe even escape justice.
