The house of representatives has called for the resignation of Jimoh Moshood, spokesman of the Nigeria police force, over his “derogatory” remarks concerning the crisis in Benue.
At plenary on Wednesday, the lawmakers also asked Ibrahim Idris, inspector-general of police, to apologise for his “seeming unwillingness” to enforce the anti-open grazing law in Benue state.
The resolutions were sequel to a motion titled ‘The need to address the derogatory remarks by Jimoh Moshood, force PRO, against Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, and unseeming unwillingness by the IGP to enforce the anti-open grazing law”.
The motion was raised by Mark Bilah, from Benue state.
The house condemned comments credited to Moshood in which he described Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, as a “drowning man.”
The lawmakers described the comments as “insensitive”, “inhuman” and “highly unprofessional”, adding that by such, the police spokesman is “unqualified” to be in the force.
While commenting on the motion, Bilah expressed sadness that the police “which is supposed to protect lives is being unpatriotic and insensitive” regarding the killings.
“It is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria for a police PRO to have the effrontery to call a sitting governor a drowning man,” Bilah said.
“And it is coming just days after the IGP reportedly called for the suspension of the grazing law in Benue. If the IGP us questioning existing laws, then we are at risk as a nation.
Similarly, Jimoh Abdul, from Lagos, described the said comments as “very pathetic.”
He said: “Calling a governor a drowning man means there is no regard for the lives lost in these killings. It is unprecedented for him to have said that. It is highly unprofessional and an apology must be issued to the governor.”