PFN Berates IG over Failure to Appear before Senate

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) Monday took a swipe at the Inspector General of Police (IG) Ibrahim Idris over his failure to appear before the Senate to give a vivid account of what he is doing to stem the killings across the country.

The religious body noted that the IG’s refusal to honour the invitation of the nation’s legislature amounted to dishonouring the people’s representatives.

The National Vice-Chairman (South-south) of the PFN, Bishop Simeon Okah,

in a statement issued in Warri decried the refusal of the IG to honour the Senate’s invitation based on “flimsy excuses”.

Reacting further to the attitude of Idris in his response to the summons by the Senate in the last few weeks, the Bishop expressed disappointment in the attitude of the police chief, noting that the action of Idris was a disrespect to the authority of all Nigerians, whose representatives the Senate is, stressing: “It does not portray the police as a democratic,

people-friendly institution”.

According to him, “To say he owes no one apology for his actions means the

IG is saying he is above the people and he is not accountable to the Nigerian people, whose taxes are used to pay his salary. A people-friendly, democracy-conscious IG will appear before the representatives of the people, after all nobody will flog him there.

“Let me conclude this point by stating that the way and manner at which

arms and ammunition are in the possession of people with questionable

characters and failure of the security agencies to track the sources and halt the flow of arms have put the nation in serious jeopardy and could threaten its existence, if nothing is done speedily.”

Speaking further, he lamented the daily waste of lives and property across the country, especially the ongoing wave in the Middle Belt of the country and encouraged security chiefs to heed the summon to them by the Senate to provide insight into the crisis and also avail Nigerians information about their efforts to end the carnage.

“The summon of the security chiefs by the Senate will provide Nigerians the opportunity to hear them out on what they are doing and if any need be offer well-meaning Nigerians a chance to assess and nake useful inputs. I will therefore call on security chiefs and the

National Security Adviser to honour the Senate’s summon, in the interest of Nigerians,” he said.

Okah, who is also the Bishop of the Flock of Christ Mission, called on political parties in the country to give internal democracy a chance, observing that the recent violence and disorder that trailed the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) ward congresses had put a question mark of the success of the upcoming general election.