TheCable

Senate President Ahmad Lawan says utterances by governors in the south-west were responsible for the violence in Oyo state.

On February 13, there was an outbreak of violence in Shasha area of Ibadan, Oyo state capital, which reportedly led to the death of one person.

The property of residents and wares of traders in Shasha market were also destroyed. Seyi Makinde, the state governor, ordered the immediate closure of the market.

In an interview with BBC Hausa on Saturday, the senate president described the crisis as a fallout of leadership failure, saying perpetrators of the violence must be brought to book.

“What has happened in Oyo and other southern states of Nigeria has led to a lack of leadership,” Lawan said.

“I would not only say that the governors, but they have an important right to protect the people, and the statements made by some of them have led to provoking the people of these states. They see their leaders as supporting them, they take this step.

“He told them that the Nigerian constitution gives every citizen the right to live wherever he wants to live, so no one should be allowed to say that he will expel others from his state because he is not a citizen of the state.

“Yes, compensation must be paid, but make sure that people are not killed in vain, not just burnt goods and the victims of the shootings, that their cards are followed, or that compensation is paid to find the perpetrators.

“The security forces should arrest them and take them to court to be punished. This is the only way to prevent others from doing the same in the future.”