SAFAR 21 1431 A.H.
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2010.
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Make report on Jos crisis public, Mark urges FG
The Senate President, Sen. David Mark, has urged the federal government to make public, the report of the panel investigating the Jos crisis.
Receiving a coalition of Muslim women groups in Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday who went to protest the recent killings in Jos, Mark blamed the reccurring crises in Plateau on the non implementation of reports of investigative panels.
``The federal government must make public, the report and recommendations of the panel recently set up to look into the crisis in Jos,'' he added.
Mark said in order to stop any further crisis in the state, all the perpetrators of the latest violence must be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
Mark said it was gratifying that the crisis was not allowed to spread to other parts of the country, and urged Nigerians to uphold the principle of peace, fairness and justice.
He explained that although the Senate had reacted appropriately to the crisis, it deliberately refused to set up another investigative panel so as not to duplicate the efforts of both the state and federal governments on the matter.
Mark said it was wrong to give the crisis any religious colouration, ``since no religion supports killing of innocent souls,'' noting that Nigerians, irrespective of their faith, had been killed in the crisis.
``All of us are pained by what happened in Jos. We should not kill ourselves in the name of religion. It is very sad,’’ he added.
Mark advised the women to monitor the movements of their husbands and children, ``as the nation approaches election year, so as not to be tools in the hands of power drunk politicians who want power at all cost''.
Mrs Maryam Othman, the leader of the delegation and President of FOMWAN, had earlier said the women groups viewed with sadness, the recent violence in Jos that claimed many lives.
``The Nigerian women condemn in strong terms, the repeated violence in Jos. We urge the federal government to enforce the freedom of each citizen to reside in any part of Nigeria without fear of persecution,’’ she said.
Othman said the women were concerned because anytime there was crisis, women were always at the receiving end, ``as they are the ones who are being raped, made homeless and destitute persons''.
She urged the federal government to find a lasting solution to the crisis, and fish out the perpetrators of the carnage for prosecution.
The women also advised government to come up with a model for compensating all those who lost their homes and other valuable property in the crisis.
Othman declared: ``The federal government should, as a matter of urgency, investigate the unchecked flow of small arms and ammunition into the country and stop the trend.
``Henceforth, reports of committees set up to investigate crises should be made public and the recommendations implemented.’’
She appealed to the womenfolk to support the cause of ``oppressed women'' in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the women groups include Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), its affiliates, Women in Da’awah, Muslim Sisters Organisation (MSO), Ansaruddeen, Jamatul Daawah and Fouad Labibidi.
Others include Nasrul Islam, Al-Ansar, NASFAT, Movement for Islamic Culture and Awareness (MICA) and Muslim Students Society.
