It would be recalled that Miss Silas, a serving youth corps member, was stabbed to death by yet-to-be-identified assailants in Kaduna while jogging on October 18, 2023.
The murder elicited nationwide condemnation, even as calls to beef up security were made by individuals, civil society organisations and the National Youths Service Corps.
The resolution of the House to collaborate with relevant security agencies to fish out the murderers followed the adoption moved by the member representing Langtang North/Langtang South Federal Constituency, Plateau State, Beni Lar.
In the lead debate, the lawmaker reminded his colleagues that “On October 18, 2023, Miss Grace Silas, a National Youth Service Corps member deployed to Kaduna State, was brutally murdered while jogging in Barnawa, Kaduna South Local Government Area.”
The deceased, she added, hailed from Tabat, in Langtang North Federal Constituency, Plateau State, and was a Rehabilitation Sciences graduate from the University of Jos.
She also lamented that the unfortunate death of Grace “is one of numerous murders of innocent girls and women nationwide, with perpetrators often unaccounted for or not brought to justice.”
The lawmaker further noted that the safety and security of the girl child are no longer guaranteed “given the continued liberty and freedom enjoyed by these heinous assailants, who still roam the streets preying on their next victim.”
According to Lar, ensuring prompt justice in the matter would deter would-be perpetrators, thus guaranteeing a safer Nigeria for all, adding that justice delayed is justice denied.
In her words, “If nothing is done to stop the continuous attacks, rape, and murder of young girls and women, it would render the country unsafe to live.”
The House, following the unanimous adoption of the motion “urge the Kaduna state Commissioner of Police to speedily identify and bring the assailants to book.”
It also urged “the Inspector General of Police to ensure the speedy delivery of justice in the case,” just as it mandated its Committee on Police Affairs to investigate the murderer of Grace Silas.
It further called on the House Committee on Youth Development “to review the safety of Corps members as they fulfil their one-year compulsory National Youth Service Corps assignments, reach out to the family, and collaborate with the police as they investigate the killers of the corps members.”
