Middle Belt and civil rights groups have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, over the unabated killings by herdsmen, particularly in the North-Central part of the country.

The groups, in separate interviews on Friday with Saturday PUNCH, said that the IGP was due for removal after disobeying a directive of Buhari that he should relocate to Benue State.

The Campaign for Democracy and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights said besides the police boss, the heads of the military should also be removed.

The CD President, Usman Abdul, said, “To put it emphatically and going by the past and present realities, the service chiefs had their tenure extended twice by the President, which to me, did not show seriousness on the part of the Federal Government. The service chiefs have young, vibrant and efficient junior officers who should step into their shoes.

“The President has failed to declare the herdsmen as terrorists. He claimed to have defeated the Boko Haram but we have a more vicious enemy in the herdsmen. The IG is long overdue to be removed looking at the myriad of allegations around him on the dereliction of duty. It may only mean that President Buhari is no longer in charge. The service chiefs and the IG must go and we must bring in fresh blood.”

The call for the sacking of the IG and service chiefs came amidst reports of the beheading of a man in Plateau State and the killing of at least seven people in Taraba State by suspected herdsmen.

Also, the CDHR President, Malachy Ugwummadu, said apart from the sack of the IG and the service chiefs, those found culpable among them must be tried.

He said, “I am adding that apart from the clamour and agitations for the removal of these heads of security agencies, there must be some punishments for those who allowed these criminal inefficiencies.

“When we ought to have pressure and innovations from the police and military, we are recording more deaths. Under Section 33 of our constitution, the right to life is the most precious. Under Section 218 of the constitution, the President has the powers to determine the operational use of the police and armed forces, and the powers to appoint and remove all of them.”

On his part,  President, National Council of Tiv Youths, Chief John Akperashi, said Nigerians were getting agitated.

He stated,  “Considering the great lapses and obvious dark spots in the security establishments across the country, especially within the police and the military, one is tempted to say there is a grand plot for the relaxation of the commensurate security exercise in confounding the rascality and senseless brutality of the Fulani herdsmen.”

Akperashi wondered why the security agencies failed to tame killer herdsmen, when they swiftly moved to arrest Biafran agitators last year.

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Also, the President of the Middle Belt Youth Council, Emma Zopmal, said, “The IGP should have been dismissed by now, but due to the affinity between him and President Buhari, he will continue to enjoy that office to the detriment of Middle Belters.”

The National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association, Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, equally called for the sacking and prosecution of the IGP for negligence.

Onwubiko said this in a telephone interview with Saturday PUNCH, in Abuja, on Friday.

He was reacting to the growing rate of killings by suspected herdsmen in several states in North-Central Nigeria.

The coordinator explained that the “reckless statements” made by the IGP as regards the killings suggested that there was more than meets the eye.

Onwubiko said, “The IGP should not only be sacked but he should be prosecuted for criminal negligence. He has exposed himself as either a sympathiser or a supporter of those involved in these violent acts.

“For an Inspector -General of Police, who has constitutional duty to protect the lives and property of Nigerians to come out to say the only condition under which he could enforce a law that was duly passed by a House of Assembly is for the state to build grazing reserves for Fulani herdsmen, is an indication that the IG has failed in his duty to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He should be sacked and prosecuted.”

Over seven people killed in Taraba

Meanwhile, at least seven people are feared to have been killed and property worth millions of naira destroyed following series of attacks on Takum and Ussa local government areas of Taraba State by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman of Ussa Local Government Area on Media and Special Duties, Mr. Agabi Andefiye, told Saturday PUNCH that the attackers on Thursday attacked and burnt Muji I, Muji II, Kando and Kpashimbe villages in Takum Local Government Area, killing five people, including a pregnant woman and her husband.

Agabi added that one Andeyantso Bulus was killed in Ussa Local Government Area while another person was killed in the neighbouring Yanghtu Special Development Area.

Takum Local Government Area is the home local government area of the state governor, Darius Ishaku, and that of a former Minister of Defence, Gen.  Theophilus Danjuma (retd.).

Another eyewitness, Tanko Adiku, told Saturday PUNCH that several people were killed on Thursday when armed herdsmen attacked Muji II and several other communities in Takum. He added that three women were abducted by the attackers.

Tanko said the attackers, numbering over 60, invaded the village, bearing sophisticated weapons. He said the assailants shot at people, killing scores of people and burning several houses.

source:  http://punchng.com/mbelt-groups-csos-call-for-igp-sacking/