By Dirisu Yakubu, Abuja

A member of the House of Representatives (Ezza North/Ishielu federal constituency), Hon. Anayo Edwin has called on the nation’s security operatives to adopt proactive measures to stem the tide of criminal activities, following Tuesday’s reported killings of 25 people in his constituency.

The sad incidents were reported to have taken place in Nkalaha, Obegu, Amezu and Umuhuali, all in Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi state.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, Hon. Edwin expressed sadness over the manner the yet-to-be-identified gunmen unleashed terror on innocent citizens.

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He said: “I received with shock the sad news of the killing of about 25 members of my constituency on Tuesday, 30th March 2021 by suspected herdsmen who wielded AK 47 rifles.

“I charge Ebonyi state government and security agencies to take proactive security measures like activation of the operation of the long announced forest guards; enforcement of the presidential order on AK47-wielding herdsmen in Ebonyi state; and maintenance of prompt or effective intelligence-gathering tabs to ensure the security of lives and properties of the citizenry to avoid future occurrence of this sad development.

“As someone who places the highest value on human lives, I am worried that human beings could easily take away the lives of innocent fellow human beings like they did to my constituents without the slightest provocation.

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“As I pray for the peaceful repose of the souls of the deceased, I heartily condole with the respective families of the departed and all of us affected in one way or the other by the tragedies of their respective untimely departures. May God give all of us the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses.”

Amadi who chairs the House Committee on Reformatory Institutions also noted that if some or all of these proactive security measures were taken immediately after the overnight vacation of ‘all the herdsmen in Ishielu local government,’ “which the governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi reported and described to journalists as very shocking, these senseless killing of innocent Ebonyi citizens could have been prevented, and the precious lives of the victims saved.”

He further called on security agencies in the state to go the whole distance to unmask perpetrators of the act with a view to bringing them to justice.

Vanguard News Nigeria