The Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, has called on the Federal Government to extend its whistle-blower policy in the anti-corruption war to the proliferation of arms.
Ekweremadu made the call in a statement signed by his Special Adviser (Media) Mr Uche Anichukwu in Abuja on Wednesday.
Anichukwu said Ekweremadu made the call when a delegation of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) paid him a courtesy visit in his office, Abuja.
He said the right to life remained the single most important human right, saying that unless such illicit arms were mopped up, the mass killings and destruction would continue.
The deputy president of the Senate, however, stressed the need for the respect of human rights in the implementation of whistle-blower policy in the war against corruption and proliferation of arms.
He decried the level of killings in the country, saying that the Senate was worried about the situation.
“We just considered the report of the Senate Committee that investigated conflicts in many parts of Nigeria, especially the killings in Southern Kaduna.
“We asked the committee to go back and do more work, because the matter is such a very serious one.
“I also made it clear that as we have addressed money laundering and corruption with the whistle blower policy, it is time to bring that to bear on arms proliferation in the country.
“People keep arms all over the place and some people know where they are.
“It is time that those who know where these arms are should be able to blow the whistle on them,” he said.
He said this would enable the security agencies to go after them and ensure that they were seized and destroyed.
Ekweremadu commended human rights community, especially HURIWA, for consistently standing up for the rights of Nigerians, adding they were at the heart of democracy.
He urged stakeholders to take all legitimate steps to preserve the rights of citizens as well as uphold the constitution and rule of law.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Mr Emmanuel Onwubiko, had commended the Senate for deepening Nigeria’s democracy and defending the Principle of Separation of Powers.
Onwubiko said the recent amendment to the Electoral Act, approving electronic voting was a cardinal move that would entrench democracy.
