- Politicians in south and middle belt areas of Nigeria have called for the probe of voter register
- The group is also demanding a probe into how herdsmen get sophisticated weapons
- The group warned the presidency against declaring a state of emergency in Benue state
Politicians under the aegis of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) have demanded an immediate probe into a statement made by the director general of the Department of State Service (DSS) that sophisticated weapons used by herdsmen are from the armouries of security agencies.
The group is also demanding a probe into the voter register citing the recent allegation of underage voting in Kano state as their reason.
Punch reports that the meeting was attended by the Ijaw leader and First Republic federal commissioner for information, Chief Edwin Clark, who led the South-South delegation; while Chief Ayo Adebanjo led the South-West delegation. Chief John Nwodo and Dr Bala Takaya led the South-East and the Middle-Belt respectively.
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A communique by the group, signed by the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin was sent to the press after the groups meeting on Saturday, February 24.
The communiqué partly read: “The meeting was alarmed by the perverse culture of underage voters, which was palpable in the recent local government elections in Kano. This open r*pe of democracy is a carry-over of the 2015 elections practice and a clear erosion of confidence in INEC to conduct credible elections.
“The meeting rejects INEC’s probe into the incident as its earlier statement that the cards were used for local elections was an attempt to cover up, forgetting we know that it has exclusive right over registration of voters, which state electoral bodies only make use of.
“Before further elections are held with the current INEC register, we demand a judicial probe of the voter register by a panel to be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and members drawn from the INEC registered political parties, civil society groups and the NDI for international representation.”
The group has also warned President Muhammadu Buhari against declaring a state of emergency in Benue state as being advocated by some persons.
The communique read: “The meeting was disturbed by the allegation that solders drafted to Benue, under the Operation Cat Dance, were circulating leaflets calling the Tiv people cattle rustlers, which clearly suggests that the operation is ostensibly meant to turn victims into villains and decimate their capacity for self-defence.
“The meeting was appalled that the Internally Displaced Persons camps in Benue state have been treated in discriminatory neglect compared to other IDPs camps in the country.
“We are calling on President Buhari to immediately stop the killings going on in Benue and other parts of the country by disarming all armed herdsmen carrying illegal weapons and fish out culprits of killings in Benue and other places for prosecution.”
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NAIJ.com previously reported that Governor Samuel Ortom, on Monday, February 26, reportedly complained about alleged herdsmen attacks and claimed there had been influx of over one million cattle into the state after an operation launch by the military.
The Operation Ayem Akpatuma was launched by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, at Guma local government area of the state.
Governor Ortom raised the alarm on the influx of several cattle at the gravesite of 73 victims of herdsmen when he led the Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Pastor Paul Enenche and his wife, Becky Enenche to the place.
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Source: Naija.ng