Atiku, Rep support foreign investigators

Posted by admin House, Legislature, United Nations Monday, August 29th, 2011

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has thrown his weight behind the involvement of foreign investigators to unravel those responsible for the bombing of the United Nation’s Building in Abuja on Friday.

Also, the Chairman, Ad hoc committee of House of Representatives on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, has described the taking over of investigations into the last Friday bombing by operatives of Federal Bureau of Investigation as a welcome development.

Foreign experts are already in the country to disentangle those responsible for the action, which has left at least 23 people dead.

Abubakar, however, said in a statement by his media office in Abuja on Monday, that the inability of Nigeria security officials informed his decision to support the involvement of international experts to unravel the extent, nature, dimension and global connection to these incidents of bomb attacks.

He said the seeming paralysis in the nation’s response to these challenges called for global collaboration because Nigeria was dealing with a hitherto unknown crime of this destructive scale.

The former vice-president said, “Our security men are not magicians to overcome these challenges unaided and called for increased vigilance by Nigerian citizens in the face of this dangerously new phase of violence and security challenges.”

While condemning the suicide bomb attack, he maintained that mindless violence was counter-productive to peace and progress.

Bamidele, who is representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency I in the House of Representatives, said this in an Eid-el-Fitri message made available to our correspondent in Ado-Ekiti on Monday.

He called on Muslims in the country to use the Eid-el-Fitri celebration to pray against future attacks on the nation.

While urging security operatives in the country to rise to the challenges posed by terrorist group, he advised them to focus more on intelligence gathering to prevent future attacks.

The lawmaker appealed to the Boko Haram, to have a rethink and embrace peace, saying killing innocent Nigerians and foreigners would not address whatever issue they had against the nation.

-Punchwp_posts