PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan took decisive steps in addressing the pains of the families that post-election violence put in agony. He has promised compensation of N5 million to each of the 10 families, a job in the federal service for a graduate from the immediate family of the deceased, and above all justice for the dead.

He also appointed a 22-man panel to investigate the riots that targeted members of the National Youth Service Corps, who served as ad hoc staff in the elections.

“I will formally inaugurate the fact-finding committee, which will undertake a thorough investigation of the unfortunate incident. I want to assure you that those found culpable will be brought to justice,” the President told the families who said that they valued justice above any compensation.

The demand for justice runs high. Fears abound that if this matter is allowed to rest at the level of setting up panels of inquiry, the killings may continue and become routine like the ones in Jos, which governments have refused to deal with, more than 10 years after they began.

Families of the deceased will hold the President by his words. He made similar promises at bomb blasts that rocked the nation since last October. The killings in Jos used to elicit promises of justice.

We hope things will be different this time. There can be no justification for these crimes and the seeming inability of the security agencies to find the killers. Even those who try to hide under religion to perpetuate these crimes know that no religion permits crimes and no religion is above our laws.

Anger at the results of the elections cannot justify killing NYSC members whose link to the elections was that they were ad hoc staff of INEC. Nothing is more callous than making an effort, any effort, to justify the action of the killers.

We expect political leaders to be more responsible in the way they treat an already sensitive issue. Their followers depend on them for directions and directives.  It is therefore dangerous for any of these leaders to preach murder and arson as permitted ways of expressing anger over elections results.

Not only did the killers take the laws into their hands, whatever their case was, the killings were just senseless. Were the NYSC members the voters? What exactly was their offence?

We do not support Governor Isa Yuguda’s new position that if he was appropriately armed he would have gunned down the killers himself. He might have immunity, but we are talking about law and order for everyone, including those who consistently place themselves above the law and encourage others to do so.

Nothing can justify the killings, but those proffering reasons for these crimes, can help the suspects prepare their defence at the trials. The suspects will get a good chance to prove their innocence and possibly gain freedom through the law while the dead are gone forever, without a chance to defend the allegations that led to their death.

A further challenge for the panellists would be to find out what government needs to do for security agencies to forestall these embarrassing incidents and the frequency of their occurrence