• APC govs, Oyegun meet Ohanaeze leaders in Owerri as Aka Ikenga kicks
From Fred Itua, Abuja
Senate has condemned the killing of a woman in Kano State, Mrs Bridget Agbahime and urged the Federal Government to ensure the culprits are fully prosecuted.
Mrs Agbahime was killed last Thursday in a market in Kano after she was allegedly accused of blasphemy.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at plenary, charged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and other relevant agencies of government to ensure the culprits are prosecuted.
Ekweremadu responded to a Point of Order raised by Senator Samuel Anyanwu on the killing.
Earlier, Anyanwu said government must ensure protection of lives and properties of all Nigerians.
“It is the responsibility of security agencies to ensure that every Nigerian is protected wherever he lives. To ensure that this doesn’t happen again, every effort must be made to fish out those responsible so that they will face full wrath of the law. We believe that this might be the last of this kind of incidence anywhere in Nigeria,” he said.
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of Agbahime’s murder, Governor Rochas Okorocha, his Kaduna and Bauchi states counterparts, Mallam Nasir El Rufai and Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, respectively, and the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief John Oyegun, met with leaders of Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo, led by its President-General, Chief Gary Igariway in Owerri, Imo State, yesterday.
El Rufai said Northern governors condemned the murder of the Igbo woman in Kano and that the matter should be treated as a case of murder while those responsible must be brought to face the wrath of the law. “We will not accept a situation where people, either Christians or Muslims, hide under the umbrella of religion to commit crime. If someone had insulted God, the person should be left for God to take care of. I have advised Kano governor to publicly deal with the people involved to serve as a deterrent to others.”
Continuing, he added: “I thank Ohanaeze for choosing the path of peace and unity. People are now using religion as a tool to divide and even defraud people. That necessitated the introduction of religion bill in Kaduna state so that people can be stopped from using divisive languages in the name of religion.”
On his part, Oyegun commended Ohanaeze leadership for their maturity in handling some of these sensitive issues.
Earlier, Igariway expressed satisfaction with the way the governor of Kano state is handling the matter and cautioned against inciting statements from leaders, commending the goodwill demonstrated by both the Kaduna and Bauchi State Governors.
Okorocha reiterated that killing of the woman in Kano was an outright case of murder and had nothing to do with tribe or religion.
Aka Ikenga has also condemned Agbahime’s murder. In a statement by its President, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike, Aka Ikenga described the late Bridget as “a peaceful trader whose only offence was an altercation with another person. The mastermind of this murder and his cohorts must be charged to court promptly as this was a premeditated action under a religious garb.
“We demand most strenuously that they be used as an example so that other murders under the cover of religion will be stopped.”
The group commended Kano Governor, Dr. Ibrahim Ganduje “as well as the Police Commissioner for their prompt reaction. But, we wonder why the Emir of Kano, whose word is a religious law, has not led in this battle to stop these bigots who believe they have the divine injunction to kill in the name of God?”