Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Armed assailants have murdered and beheaded a constituent of Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro in Benue South, with the attackers fleeing with the severed head of their victim in what the lawmaker described on Wednesday as part of a sustained siege on communities across the senatorial district.
Moro, who represents Benue South Senatorial District, raised the alarm in a personal explanation on the floor of the Senate, identifying the victim as Mr. Ujema Emi, a public health worker, who was ambushed and killed at the Ubube Road Junction in Ikobi area.
“One of my constituents, Ujema Emi, a public health worker, was murdered in cold blood. Ujema Emi was reportedly ambushed, killed and beheaded. The severed head was taken away by the assailants,” Moro told his colleagues.
The senator described the Ubube Junction axis along the Ikobi-Ulegapa road as one of several flashpoints where suspected armed herders frequently attack commuters and residents, warning that the situation had deteriorated beyond the capacity of local security structures to contain.
“Benue South is literally under siege,” he declared.
Moro turned his fire on the Benue State Government, accusing it of indifference to the suffering of affected communities.
“Unfortunately, the Benue State Government appears indifferent to the plight of my people,” he said.
While acknowledging the responsiveness of the Nigerian Army, the Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Minority Leader argued that community-level security arrangements remained grossly underfunded and outgunned.
“Volunteer guards, Homeland Security personnel and other local security outfits are not sufficiently funded to proactively confront this insecurity,” he said.
“Can communities defend themselves against heavily armed herdsmen with bare hands?” He queried.
Moro also protested the arrest of Mr. Olochi Asailas, a youth leader he said had been coordinating community resistance against armed marauders in Agatu Local Government Area.
He argued that the detention had left vulnerable communities further exposed. He appealed to the Senate leadership to facilitate the release of those arrested in connection with community self-defence efforts.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio condoled with the family of the slain constituent and referred the matter to the relevant Senate security committees for engagement with security agencies.
“Our condolences go to the family of the person who was killed. We will refer this matter to the relevant security committees of the Senate to engage the security agencies for appropriate action,” Akpabio said.
The grim security report came on a day the chamber was also briefly animated by a lighter procedural dispute over traditional regalia.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), freshly conferred with the title of Papama of Bachama Kingdom, appeared in the chamber carrying a ceremonial staff, prompting Chief Whip Mohammed Tahir Monguno to raise a point of order on the grounds that the rules barred weapons from the chamber.
Ningi pushed back firmly, insisting that the item was a cultural symbol with no threatening intent.
He said: “This regalia is not in any way meant to threaten anybody. This regalia is our tradition. There is no weapon in it. It is simply a ceremonial staff and decoration of a traditional title,” he said.
He added that nearly two decades in the National Assembly made it inconceivable that he would knowingly violate the chamber’s rules.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele acknowledged Ningi’s explanation while urging strict adherence to Senate regulations.
Akpabio subsequently directed the Sergeant-At-Arms to ensure compliance, though when an official approached Ningi to retrieve the staff, the senator declined and elected to remove it himself.
