Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has called on the Nigerian military to identify, arrest and prosecute its personnel who killed Joseph Pessu, an Itshekiri youth on Thursday in Warri, Delta State.
Omo-Agege, who described the killing of Pessu by soldiers enforcing the stay at home order of the Delta State government as gruesome murder, maintained that only the prosecution of the perpetrator(s) would prevent others from being so reckless with human lives.
According to a statement by Yomi Odunuga, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Deputy President of the Senate, Omo-Agege, spoke directly with the Army and Police authorities in the state to ensure there is justice for the deceased.
ALSO READ: COVID-19: Our new positive case was infected in Lagos ― Ekiti govt
The Deputy President of the Senate then called on all citizens of the state to desist from taking the laws into their hands as being reported in some quarters.
He said he has tasked the authorities to fish out those responsible and punish them in accordance with the laws of the land.
According to him, even if the deceased had flouted the order of the state government to stay at home, the best approach was to apprehend and hand him over to the police for prosecution.
While calling on security personnel to always maintain the rules of engagement as they enforce the lockdown order, he called on youths to exercise utmost restraint.
“I condemn in strong terms the extra-judicial killing of Joseph Pessu by men of the Nigerian Army. And call on the Army authorities to fish out the culprit (s) and hand them over to the Police for prosecution.
“Those who are authorised to bear arms in defence of the nation ought to understand that this comes with responsibility especially when human life is sacrosanct. The killing in Warri today is one too many as the issue shouldn’t have led to what, in my opinion, amounted to extrajudicial killing of yet another future hope of this country.
“I have heard that the Army has arrested the soldier that shot the deceased, it is my belief that thorough investigations would be carried out and adequate punishment would be meted out to those involved in the heinous crime.
“Yes, we are in strange times and nerves are high with all the issues surrounding the COVID-19 lockdown in the country. Be that as it may, there are better ways of making Nigerians obey the government’s directives without the resort to violence or extrajudicial killings by law enforcement agents.
“My prayers are with the family and loved ones of the deceased. I hope those who are quick at pulling the trigger would learn from this and adopt strategies that would foster mutual understanding between them and those they are tasked to protect.”
He continued that “in their bid to save the lives of the Nigerians, it would be a depressing twist of fate for them to be listed among those contributing to the list of the dead in this challenging period globally.”
and then