Otukpo Robber Attack: Senate reads riot act

By Andrew Oota

Senate yesterday, urged the Nigerian Police and other relevant security agencies to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the invasion and death of innocent Nigerians at the October 20, 2023 robbery attack on four banks and a police station in Otukpo town of Benue State .

This was on the heels of a motion of urgent urgent national importance moved by senator Patrick Abba Moro (PDP Benue South West ) who expressed concerns that the men of the underworld numbering over 50 with two vehicles and motorcycles could beat the multiple road check points mounted by the Police ,Army ,Civil Defence etc without been apprehended .

Senator Moro who blamed the robbery attack on lack of intelligence report on the part of all the security agencies including the Department of States Service, DSS maintained that the country is heading towards a more scary situation and that the government of the day must sit up and brace for the challenge .

According to the motion , about eight innocent Nigerians including four police officers lost there lives in the attacks.

Senator Moro told his colleagues that the robbers spent over an hour with little or no resistance ,holding the entire town hostage and carted away with millions of naira as well as police ammunition from the command having used dynamites to and assort weapons to dislodge the police .

Consequently , Senate further resolved that the Nigeria police and other security agencies must unravel the mystery of the lack of intelligence and alertness on the day of the invasion as well as called on the National Emergency Management Agency to provide relief materials for the rehabilitation of the Otukpo police command.

Briefing Senate correspondents , Senator Morro expressed disappointment over the failure of the All Progressives Congress Government of former President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the Bola Tinubu led Government restructure the Nigeria’s security architecture despite a detailed report of the 9th Senate on the subject matter .

He further said the call for the establishment of the Local Police formations was not the way out of the current security challenges ,adding that ,”most of the state Governments cannot pay the civil servants therefore,adding more burden on them is not the way to go on my opinion”.