Senate President mourns victims of fire incident in Borno IDP camp

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has commiserated with victims of the fire incident that occurred on Thursday at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Ngala, Borno.

Lawan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Ola Awoniyi in Abuja on Friday, mourned the 14 people who lost their lives and sympathised with those injured in the inferno.

The Senate President also commiserated with the government and people of Borno over the tragic incident.

He called on relevant authorities to investigate the incident with a view to averting a re-occurrence.

In another development, the Lawal has decried the alleged case of extra-judicial killings by security agents, in the process of enforcing the lockdown in parts of the country, as reported by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

He said he was saddened by the NHRC report that 18 people were killed by high-handed security officers tasked to enforce the stay at home directives.

Lawan said that extra-judicial killings, in whatever guise, should be discouraged in the society.

He called for a thorough investigation of the cases, adding that those indicted should be promptly brought to account.

“Life is sacred; it is a tragedy that those asked to enforce compliance with emergency measures adopted for public safety are now being accused of responsibility for needless and totally avoidable deaths of citizens,’’ Lawan said.

The Senate President said that any officer found culpable of unprofessional use of weapons should, as standard practice, be made to face prosecution.

He urged citizens to continue to cooperate with the authorities as they strive to defend the country against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.