Extend whistle-blower policy to arms proliferation, Ekweremadu tells FG

The Deputy President of the Senate, Sena­tor Ike Ekweremadu, has charged the federal gov­ernment to extend its whis­tle-blower policy in the anti-corruption war to the proliferation of arms and con­sequent incessant killings in various parts of the country.

Ekweremadu, who main­tained that the right to life remained the single most important human right, said unless such illicit arms were mopped up, the mass killings and destruction would con­tinue.

This was even as he called for the respect for human rights in the implementation of whistle-blower policy in the war against corruption and proliferation of arms.

He spoke while playing host to a delegation of the Human Rights Writers Asso­ciation of Nigeria, HURIWA, which paid a courtesy call to him in his Office yesterday.

Ekweremadu said: “Life has lost meaning in Nigeria and people are killed every day and everywhere in Nigeria and the Senate is very worried about it.

“We just considered the re­port of the Senate Committee that investigated conflicts in many parts of Nigeria, espe­cially the killings in Southern Kaduna. We asked the Com­mittee to go back and do more work because the matter is such a very serious one.

“I also made it clear that it is important that just as we have addressed the issues of money laundering and cor­ruption with the whistle-blower policy, it is time for us to bring that to bear on the issue of arms proliferation in the country.

“People keep arms all over the place and some people know where they are. It is time that those who know where these arms are should be able to blow the whistle on them so that the security agencies will be able to go after them and ensure that they are seized and destroyed. So long as we have arms all over the place, the killings will continue.” - The Authority