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Some of the victims of the killings that took place in Mubi, Adamawa on Monday died on Wednesday. An unnamed official of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, who spoke to the Agence-France Presse on Wednesday said the victims died in the hospital. Yet-to-be-identified gunmen had launched a night attack on a hostel.
“This is a sad moment for our school; the gunmen shot and killed at least 40 of our students. More of the injured that were rushed to the hospital have died,” an unofficial source in the school said.
The official spoke even as reports of the killings sparked nationwide outrage and the death toll rose to 40.
Senators, at plenary in Abuja spoke with anger and charged the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to quickly arrest the perpetrators of the Mubi killings and bring the general insecurity in the country to a halt.
They described the Mubi incident as unacceptable.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu, in her contribution, said it was high time the lawmakers passed a vote of no confidence on the Federal Government.
“We are a nation under siege; even under the Abacha regime, it was not as bad as this. To me, I think it is high time we passed a no confidence vote on this government,” Tinubu said.
Police arrest ‘many’ suspects
Also on Wednesday, the police said they had made arrests in connection with the Monday night killings.“We have made several arrests. In fact, we have arrested many suspects in connection with the killings,” AFPquoted the spokesman for police in the state, Mohammed Ibrahim, as saying.
But an unnamed school official said most of those arrested were students, including those seeking to flee Mubi.
Reports from Adamawa on Wednesday however indicated that soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force had launched a door-to-door search of many homes in the town to fish out the killers who at about midnight on Monday swooped on the off-campus hostel and killed the students.
The gunmen reportedly arrived the hostel with a hit list from which they called out the names of their targets. On identifying a target, the killers would either shoot at very close range or kill with a knife.“The military is going house to house searching,” head of the Red Cross in Adamawa State, Abubakar Ahmed, told Reuters.
The PUNCH learnt on Wednesday the suspects the police claimed to have arrested were caught in the cause of the search.
Election dispute theory
The PUNCH, however, learnt that police investigators were already on the track of leaders of the Polytechnic’s Students Union Government. The policemen are working on the theory that the killings resulted from a disputed students union government elections last Saturday.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Godfrey Okeke, on Wednesday told one of our correspondents on the telephone that his men had commenced investigation into the killings and that the authorities of the school had been cooperating with the command.
Okeke said the police would interrogate student leaders and individuals that participated in the SUG elections.
“Though the school has been closed because of the incident, we will interrogate student union leaders and anyone that could assist our investigations. It is going to be a wide angle investigation; we will explore every angles and links. The school authorities are cooperating with us; some of their administrative staff have been with us since morning,“ the police boss explained.
He also told Reuters that “relatives of the slain students said the assailants called their names out before they killing them. The majority were killed with gun shots or slaughtered.”
Arrest killers – Jonathan
But Jonathan ordered on Wednesday that security agencies should promptly arrest the killers of the students. The President, after he was briefed by the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, at the Federal Executive Council meeting, directed that security agencies should leave no stone unturned to ensure that the killers were nabbed and brought to book.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said Jonathan was saddened by the incident.
“The President described the incident as tragic, sad and shocking. He has directed security agencies to investigate the matter and get to the root because this kind of incident where people are called out and shot is really shocking,” the presidential spokesman said.
Killings unacceptable –Senators
Senators, at their plenary on Wednesday, said the Mubi massacre was unacceptable and tasked the Jonathan administration to quickly find and punish the perpetrators.
While debating a motion sponsored by Senator Bindo Jibrila, the lawamakers took turns to condemn the crime. President of the Senate, David Mark, said governments at all levels had the responsibility to protect the lives and property of citizens. He added that there was no justification for the killings.
Mark said, “Every state government has responsibility; people are not killing in Norway because of unemployment. We have to tackle these specific killing of people.
“This is totally unacceptable. Those involved in this killing must be arrested and be brought to book.
“This is an opportunity to test capital punishment in our law as quickly as possible. I think these are very serious security challenges and we should go headway to tackle them.”
Mark’s deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, said the killings represented a sad day for the country.
“It is a sign of the inability of the system to provide security to our people. It is painful that some people are still playing politics with the lives of our people. This calls for alternative solutions to the problems,” Ekweremadu said.
In his contribution, Senator Olubunmi Adetumbi said, “What has happened in Mubi is a destruction of our future. When young men die for no reason, it is a food for thought. Power is supposed to deliver security and safety and these are areas where this government has consistently failed. “Everyone sitting here today is a parent, there is palpable fear everywhere. Emirs have been attacked, churches have been attacked and we say the future of Nigeria is in the hands of these young Nigerians.
“The question we should ask ourselves is: is Nigeria really standing or failing?
“This is a country where the constitution is no longer applicable. This is a first sign of collapse. As a parliament, we must be concerned; we must be worried and be disturbed that something is really wrong with this country.” Senator Barnabas Gemade challenged the government to move into action and deal more seriously with the security problem in the country.
He said, “It looks like there is an orchestrated programme to destabilise the foundation of the economy of the North-East .
“Maiduguri and Mubi are centres for international trade in this part of the country. Our law enforcement agents should be able to ensure that this kind of thing does not happen.”
However, Senator Abdul Ningi said while he joined others in condemning the attacks, he did not share the sentiment that the incident was a failure of security.
He said, “Let me differ with them in blaming the security for the incident. I believe that this is a complete absence of leadership when people who are not supposed to be in government suddenly found themselves in governance.
“Democracy in Nigeria has only ushered in election, not responsibility and accountability. Over a year ago, when this incident started, how many people have been convicted?
“All we hear is arrest and arrest, if you know the work of security agencies in Kaduna, Kano, Maduguri and others. Those who are to be blamed are the political class; I mean all of us who have not been able to move beyond tribal politics.”
NANS gives ultimatum
Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students on Wednesday declared a three-day national mourning and gave the Adamawa State Government seven days within which it must fish out the killers of the students.
National President of NANS, Mr. Mohammed Dauda, in a statement in Jos said, “We are categorically demanding an immediate probe into the circumstances surrounding the attack while giving a seven-day ultimatum to the Adamawa State Government to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime.”
NANS said the attack was “unprecedented and is not only cruel, but extremely barbaric.”
ACF reacts
The Arewa Consultative Forum, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary,. Anthony Sani, described the killing of the students as shocking to all lovers of peace and humanity
The ACF said, “The news of the attack and killing of some innocent 25 students of Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, is very shocking to all lovers of peace, humanity and sanctity of life. This is because the students could not possibly be part of what might have caused any perceived grievances. The attacks are, therefore, condemned as barbaric for what they are.
“Towards that end, Arewa Consultative Forum appeals to the security agencies and to all Nigerians, especially those around Mubi Local Government Area, with patriotic courage to go as far as efforts can go and fish out the perpetrators of the abominable attacks and bring them to justice as deterrence against any future occurrence.”
Culled from The Punch Nigeria.
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