Reps summon service chiefs over military, Shi’ite clash

House of Representatives is expected to interface with the echelon of the nation’s security agencies over last Saturday clash between the military and religious sect, Shi’ite.

The corpses of 60 people among those killed in the shoot-out that followed the attempted mob-attack against the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, have been deposited at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria morgue.

Abdulrasak Namdas, chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, gave the hint at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.

“Following a clash between Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as Shi’ite and security operatives in Zaria, Kaduna State over the weekend, the House of Representatives has directed two of its relevant committees to meet with to echelon of security agencies in the country so as to unearth the cause of the clash with a view to finding lasting solutions,” Namdas said.

According to him, Speaker Yakubu Dogara urged the committees to do a thorough job, considering the sensitive nature of the matter and the security situation in the country at the moment.

Dogara suing for peace following the crisis trailing the incident, urged Nigerians to be calm and peaceful, stressing that the House would always be alive to its responsibilities.

The speaker assured that Nigerians would be fully briefed in due course when the committees must had concluded their assignments and reported back to the House.

In a related development, the House during the Wednesday plenary condemned the violent attack leading to the death of 22 people and leaving several others injured in Riyom and Jos South Local Government of Plateau State.

To this end, the House urged the Committee on National Security to investigate the ugly development(s) with a view to finding lasting solution and report back to the House in four weeks.

The resolution was passed following the adoption of the motion sponsored by Istifanus Gyang, who stressed the need for Federal Government to include the over 40 villages destroyed by violent attacks in its rehabilitation and reconstruction of victims of terror.

The lawmaker lamented that the communities in Barkin Ladi/Riyom local government have suffered series of attacks resulting in the displacement of over 20,000 persons.

In the bid to immediately alleviate the suffering of the people in the affected areas, Gyang urged National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to the communities and survivors.