Protesters storm N’Assembly, demand death penalty for 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.