The Nigerian Senate has commiserated with the government and people of Haiti following the massive earthquake that  left over 100,000 people dead and the country’s economic and social infrastructures totally dervastated.

In a  statement signed by the Senate committee chairman on information, Senator Eze Ayogu, the Senate commended the international community for coming to the aid of Haiti and the people for the determination to ride through hardship and deprivation.

The Senate also noted that the sizable population of the country is made up of the descendants of major tribes in Nigeria and urged the African Union to join the international community to bring relief to the traumatized country.

The Senate also sympathised with families torn apart by deaths and loss of means of livelihood and urged them to join hands to bring their country’s  news of disaster to a new era of governance.

Meanwhile, some incidents of violence in Haiti have hindered rescue workers trying to help earthquake victims, a top official leading the U.S. government’s relief efforts said yesterday.

Providing humanitarian aid requires a safe and secure environment, said Lt. Gen. Ken Keen of the U.S. Southern Command. While streets have been largely calm, he said, violence has been increasing.

“We are going to have to address the situation of security,” Keen said. “We’ve had incidents of violence that impede our ability to support the government of Haiti and answer the challenges that this country faces.”

Keen said about 1,000 U.S. troops are in Haiti and that 3,000 more are working from ships. More than 12,000 U.S. forces are expected to be in the region by Monday.

Fear of looters and robbers has been one of the factors slowing the delivery of aid. After Tuesday’s earthquake, maintaining law and order fell on the 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers and international police already in Haiti even though those forces also sustained heavy losses in the disaster.

Keen said U.S. forces are working with U.N. peacekeepers and that local police are beginning to assist in providing security.

Rescue efforts and getting food, water and medical supplies to earthquake victims were the focus of efforts Sunday, U.S. officials said. An estimated 100,000 or more people may have died in the magnitude-7.0 quake.