Government should seek house approval to deploy troops

Nigeria's lower house of parliament adopted a motion on Tuesday that government must in future seek national assembly approval before deploying troops to quell civil unrest in the country, local newspapers reported. But the house did not agree with sponsors of the motion that the troops deployed to Odi, Bayelsa State, after the abduction and killing of 12 policemen should be withdrawn. This was because members were divided on whether the deployment of troops to Odi without recourse to the national assembly was a violation of the constitution, the `Vanguard' reported. Meanwhile, Bayelsa State women have urged the federal government to rebuild Odi and compensate all those displaced by the troops deployed to the community, the newspaper reported. A team of senators which assessed conditions in Odi on Monday expressed shock at the scale of destruction in the village.