Protesters storm N’Assembly, demand death penaltyfor corruption

Some protesters stormed the National Assembly on
Wednesday and demanded a legislation that would
prescribed death penalty as punishment for corruption
in the country.
Speaking under a group, Voice of the Voiceless, they
said there was no way Nigeria would made progress if
corruption in public office was not brought under
control.
They wrote separate letters to the President of the
Senate, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
In the letter to the House, which was signed by the
National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Oliver Ezeala, the
protesters wrote, “Corruption, as we are all aware of,
has eaten so deep into the fabric of this great nation
and we are strongly advocating the death penalty to
anybody who is found guilty of corrupt practices, no
matter how highly-placed such an individual is in the
society.
“Nigeria has tried every other measure of deterrent but
to no avail.
“We want this great nation to toe the path of countries
such as Indonesia, Singapore, China and other world
powers who have achieved so much developmental
strides as a result of their zero tolerance for
corruption.”
However, they said they were confident that with
President Muhammadu Buhari in power, the fight
against corruption would be fast-tracked.
“We believe that he will fight this our common hydra-
headed enemy to a complete standstill,” the letter
added.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Yusuf
Lasun, on Wednesday deplored the high rate of
unemployment in the country.
Lasun observed that to make matters worse, there were
many fraudsters who engaged in employment
racketeering by collecting money from youths for non-
existing jobs.
Lasun spoke in Abuja when some Osun State indigenes
paid him a visit at the National Assembly.
However, he promised that the current House would
partner the executive arm of government to address the
situation.
“Since the (federal) capital was moved out of Lagos, it
is very difficult to get employment for our people.
“It is horrible to hear that people collect money from
young graduates to get employed,” he told the visitors.
The Osun Indigenes, made up mainly of National
Assembly employees, were led by the President of
Association of Osun State Indigenes, Mr. Oluremi
Ajibade.