Southeast senators ask FG to investigate killing of IPOB members

The Southeast Caucus in the Senate has reacted to the Amnesty International, AI, report, which painted a very chilling picture of the brutal killing of about 150 defenseless members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, allegedly by the Nigerian military, urging the Federal Government to immediately constitute a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the alleged killing of the peaceful protesters.

The Nigerian Army had faulted the claims by AI that its men killed over 150 pro-Biafran protesters,accusing the human rights organization of championing a campaign of calumny against Nigeria’s military, especially the Army.

But in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its Chairman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Southeast caucus maintained that the brutal killing is not only embarrassing to Nigeria as a country, but one that cast doubts on the operational modus of the Nigeria military in handling civil protest in a constitutional democracy.

According to the group of senators, “It is not enough for the Nigeria military to debunk the report, we as a caucus demand an independent inquiry in the mould of a Judicial Panel and urgently too.

“It is our candid view that such panel would reassure the Igbos that the Federal Government is alive to its responsibilities one of which is the protection and respect of the fundamental rights of all people irrespective of tribe or religion.

“Unraveling the authenticity of the report would help to prevent a recurrence just as it will engender unity in our country. But the most important to us now is that the report must be probed and those implicated must be made to face justice.”

(Daily Post)