Date: 2021-03-18

...ask COAS to discipline soldiers for shooting, killing citizens in Kwara

House of Representatives has urged various Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs of government to ensure that beneficiaries of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDf Scholarship programs were engaged in the services of government to ensure that money expended for their training and knowledge acquired were not wasted.

The House also asked the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru to discipline the soldiers involved in the shooting and killing of harmless citizens in Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency of Kwara State.

The call was a sequel to two separate motions considered on Wednesday plenary.

In the first motion titled "Engaging Young Nigerians Trained by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)", moved by Hon. Samaila Suleiman, the House the engagement was necessary to justify the money spent on the people.

"The Petroleum Technology Fund (PTDF) was established in 1973 to replace the defunct Gulf of Oil Company Training Fund for the purpose of training and educating Nigerians in the Oil and Gas Industry.

"PTDF is not to act only as an instrument for the development of indigenous resources and technology transfer acquisition in the Petroleum Industry, but to make Nigeria a human resource centre for the West African Sub-region in the petroleum Sector, by training Nigerians to qualify as graduates, professional, technicians and entrepreneurs in the field of engineering, geology, science and management in the petroleum industry.

"PTDF activities was designed to lay a lasting foundation for growth and development while strengthening existing technology as well as supporting infrastructural and human capacity for discoveries and inventions.

"PTDF among other things was aimed at providing scholarship and bursaries wholly or partially to students in Universities, Colleges, Institutions with the petroleum-related curriculum in Nigeria or abroad.

"PTDF has successfully spent 50-60 million naira on each student for a 3-4-year course, impacting them with much knowledge, yet the students are not engaged in any useful employment that adds value to the nation's development, a situation which has left especially the students not being proud of themselves nor their nation", Suleiman said while moving the motion.

Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance with the resolution.

Similarly, the House while considering a motion titled "Need to Stop Incessant Extortion, Harassment and Victimization of people of Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency, Kwara State by Soldiers and other Security Forces", moved by Hon. Mohammed Omar Bio asked the military authorities to discipline erring soldiers in Kwara State.

Moving the motion, Bio expressed concern that the soldiers extorted motorists by charging a fixed rate depending on the category of the vehicle.

According to him, motorcycles were charged N100, small Cars N200 while tankers are charged N1500, these illegal fees are collected from several roadblocks in Baruten/Kaiama Constituency.

"Various attempts by Citizens to seek succour particularly not paying the illegal fees or pay only while going or coming results at different times to seizure of their motorcycles and vehicles.

"The Climax of the victimization by the Soldiers happened on 8 January 2021, where Soldiers descended on Youths and Motorists with guns for refusing to pay illegal fees which led to the death of three innocent persons namely, Muftau Abdul Akeem, Saadu Abdulqudus and Halidu Zubairu while others Abdullahi Zakariyau, Abubakar Taofeeq, Ibrahim Abdulkareem Abdullahi Halidu, Kwami Guruma, Hussaini Abdulrasaq and Yakuba Bio sustained bullets wounds and are currently receiving treatment in hospitals.

"If the incidence of harassment, extortion by the Soldiers manning the checkpoints is not nipped in the bud, more chaos and casualties will be recorded", Bio said.

Adopting the motion, the House mandated its committee on Army to investigate the incident of incessant extortion, harassment and victimization of people of Baruten/Kaiama by soldiers deployed to mount checkpoints at the border.