SENATE DEBATED A MOTION TODAY ON THE NEED TO LOOK INTO KILLINGS & ARSON IN ZAMFARA-SARAKI.{PHOTO}

         Senate President Bukola Saraki wrote today on social media ''Today at the Senate, we debated a Motion on the urgent need to look into the killings and arson that occurred in Shinkafi Local Government Area, Zamfara.For many years now, we have continued to observe moments of silence for various communities around the country. Yet, we have not sufficiently addressed this problem head-on. This has to stop. We are all tired of this. We all need to take action. Today’s moment of silence is one moment of silence too many.Clearly, all the messages that came out from today’s debate point to the fact that there is a collapse of either Nigeria’s security infrastructure or national security. There is a level of impunity in many parts of our nation today. This impunity has translated to us seeing people carrying illegal arms in the open and causing devastation to communities across the country.This is why, we are going to take profound action on this issue. Tomorrow, I will be setting up a Committee that will be tasked with coming up with long-term solutions to this problem. We must use this opportunity to really ask ourselves, what is the way forward? How do we put an end to these communal clashes and killings that occur?.The fact remains, in the past, many committees have been set up to look at the reformation of the police for better delivery, however, up until now, no action has been taken.This is why, this is not just going to be another report and this is not just going to be another committee.I have told the senators that will be on this committee that they will be carrying a huge responsibility on their shoulders. I also acknowledge that it is not going to be easy. However, I am happy that we have former governors, aspiring governors and legislators in the Senate that are up to the task.Whatever it is, together with the right minds and a concerted approach, we can get to the bottom of this issue and solve it. If it is a funding issue, it can be addressed through appropriations. If it is new technologies that other countries use to maintain their internal security, we need to know what these technologies are.In this regard, tomorrow, I’ll be announcing the names of the members of the ad-hoc committee and giving them a time-frame and a mandate to report back to the full plenary, so that we can take a decision on this issue and follow through with it''.