Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has commiserated with the government and people of Benue State on the occasion of the mass burial of the victims of the recent suspected herdsmen attacks.

Ekweremadu, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Uche Anichukwu, expressed sadness over the preventable loss of lives in Nigeria and reiterated his call for decentralised policing in the country.

He said: “This is a black Thursday, not only for the people of Benue State, but also for the entire nation. My heartfelt condolences go to the government and people of Benue State as the victims of the suspected herdsmen attacks are committed to mother earth.

“While I join fellow Nigerians to pray for the peaceful repose of the souls of the victims and for fortitude to those who lost their loved ones, let me reiterate that we must avert such future occurrences by urgently rethinking our security system.

“As I have always maintained, the reasonable thing to do right away is to decentralise our police system to enable every federating unit to take its fate in its own hand in effectively protecting the lives and property of its citizens and residents. This is the primary object of government.”