The House of Representatives has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to
deploy the Army to Ossissa community in Delta to dislodge herdsmen and
forestall disturbances in the area. The call was sequel to a unanimous
adoption of a motion on Urgent Matters of Public Importance by Rep. Ossai
Ossai (Delta-PDP) in Abuja on Wednesday.
In the motion, Osssai said that the herdsmen had laid siege on the
community since Oct. 22, 2016.
According to him, the latest attack which occurred between 3p.m. and 6p.m.
of Tuesday had scores of the indigenes injured and some killed, while
property worth hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed.
He said the protracted and coordinated nature of the attacks involved use
of sophisticated weapons against defenceless locals.
The lawmaker said that in the last nine days, there had been
indiscriminate shooting of people, kidnapping of children, raping of
women, looting of property and burning of houses by the herdsmen.
He recalled that within the last three years, similar attacks had occurred
in Ogume, Onicha-Ukwuani and Obinomba, among other communities, in the
Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency of the state.
He said it was disturbing that the Federal Government was yet to contain
the terror of herdsmen or identify and prosecute their sponsors in order
to avoid anarchy in the country.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the House, Mr Yakubu Dogara, urged the
Inspector-General of Police to urgently secure and maintain peace in
Ossissa community. He mandated the Committees on Legislative Compliance
and Public Safety and National Security to ensure prompt implementation of
the House’s resolutions and report back within two weeks.