The Katsina state House of Assembly says it received three petitions from the public, through its standing committee on public petitions, from January to date.
The committee Chairman, Alhaji Abduljalal Haruna-Rinka, (APC-Safana) disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, in Katsina.
Haruna-Rinka, who is also the Chief whip of the assembly, said that the committee received a petition from an NGO called ‘Queen Dijah women and Children Awareness Initiative’, on behalf of a 15-year old girl.
“The NGO alleged that some operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service raped and impregnated the girl, who is from Jibia LGA, and this issue we are still investigating.
“What actually delayed the petition was the strike embarked upon by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), but they are back now, and the investigation continues.
“We even met two weeks with the association and the girl, and we are going to follow up on the issue until the end.”
He said that the committee was facing challenges in getting to the root of the matter, because it involved officials of the Federal Government, which has direct power over them.
“Our own duty is to look at the petition and see where she has rights on the issue and where we have no right, we will make sure we ensure that justice is done,” the chairman said.
According to him, the committee was also waiting for a briefing from the NGO on the position of the police on the issue, and also a DNA test.
He added that they also received a petition from the people of Kafur Local Government Area (LGA) against the activities of a sand mining company in their communities in Kafur.
The chairman said that they invited the company and they came with documents that showed they were not carrying out illegal activities.
“And in the long run, we understand that they have started discussing how they can resolve their differences amicably.
“Therefore, we handed over the issue to the member representing Kafur constituency to follow up and ensure they resolved it peacefully,” he said.
Haruna-Rinka added that another petition was received from Emerald Chamber challenging the state’s Ministry of Lands for allegedly conniving with some unnamed persons to take over their houses.
“On this issue, we have just written a letter to the state’s Ministry of Lands, and we are also inviting the officials to appear before the committee on Monday Aug 16.
(NAN)
