The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, on Sunday, paid a condolence visit to the 144 Infantry Battalion Headquarters in Asa, Ukwa West local government area of Abia State sequel to the recent brutal murder of three soldiers in Aba town in the State.
The Deputy Speaker, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, declared that there was no justification for the mindless killing of military personnel on duty by yet-to-be identified gunmen.
Kalu, who was accompanied by some members of the House as well as the members of Peace In South-East Project (PISE-P), condemned the act, backing the directives of President Bola Tinubu to the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime and bring them to justice.
Pledging the commitment of the Parliament towards enacting laws to improve the welfare of the security personnel, he announced the setting up of a Fund to cater for the families of the fallen security operatives across the South-East region.
The Deputy Speaker in conjunction with PISE-P made a donation of N10 million to assist the wives of the slain soldiers, saying at least each of them should get N2 million to start a business on the side and not for school fees since the Abia State governor has taken care of school fees.
Commending the military for maintaining peace in the region through a non-kinetic means, Kalu, however, regretted the recent move by some criminal elements to scuttle the gains so far recorded.
He appealed to the military to be soft on the people while combing the city and its environs, pleading with them not to allow the innocent to suffer unduly.
Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State, said he was pained by the sad development and could not have endured staying back in Abuja when his home State was going through a difficult time.
He said: “As the deputy speaker, I will not sit in Abuja very comfortable knowing that a uniformed man has been gone down in my state, men on duty to save us have been gunned down, I cannot sit comfortably in Abuja. That was why I came to partner with you and to support this women.
“I came with this array of people from all parts of Nigeria, 31 of us from Abuja. That will tell you how much we value you and the work you do and how much we value these people that we lost and the women who are here.
“In a time when we are trying to see how to encourage the soldiers who we believe need more for the sacrifice they make for this nation, the police, they need more, all the security agencies, they need more; at a time when we in parliament are struggling to see how we can better their lives, people are carrying guns. What a pain. Whatever made them to do this, it’s a painful thing for this country. That is why all of us are rising boldly to condemn it, to condemn this act in it’s entirety.
“It has no justification especially when we have been begging with our Peace in South East Project. Since December 29, 2023, we’ve been pleading that we should no longer use kinetic ways to settle conflicts. We’ve been begging the security agencies. Enough of shooting, and they have respected our call.
“Even the chief of army staff has gone around preaching non kinetic means to settling our conflicts. He has been going around. I watch him. And he has been selling this to the rank of fire, saying, everything cannot be solved through gun. We can negotiate, we can talk, we can apply other skills. Not because they are weak, but because by their training, they are trying to employ a better approach to spill less blood.
“If you allow the military to be angry in this state, none of us will be safe. If they get angry and say they want to retaliate, we will not be safe in this Abia state. And that is why we are still begging that that non kinetic approach is still what will work.”
In his response, the Brigade Commander of the 114 Battalion, Brigadier O. O. Diya, who received the Deputy Speaker and his entourage, said efforts were already ongoing to apprehend the killers.
“We can assure you, sir, that those that committed this, we will look for them. We will find them and we will smoke them out wherever they are.
Efforts are already in place to ensure that we find them and make them pay for what they have done for making these women and her son go through this pain, this irreparable pain. It’s very unfortunate.
“And I can assure you that Abia State will regain that prominence, that it had being the safest state in southeast. Please, just relax. Justice to be done and we will ensure that justice is seen and this act will never ever,” Brigadier Diya stated.
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