Isaac Samuel
The House of Representatives on Tuesday summoned the Service Chiefs and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, over the worsening security situation across the country.
The call amid growing concerns over bandit attacks, mass abductions, and killings in several states.
The resolution followed two motions of urgent public importance moved separately by Hon. Sulaiman Abubakar Gumi, representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State, and Hon. Ibe Okwara Osonwa.
They raised alarm over the increasing national security crisis.
Raising his motion, Gumi said insecurity in Zamfara and the wider North West had escalated into a complex humanitarian emergency, driven by armed banditry, kidnappings, and what he described as cross-border infiltration by criminal networks.
He cited repeated attacks across communities in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi and Jigawa states, including the abduction of students of the Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, as well as killings and kidnappings along rural highways and farming communities.
Gumi warned that the sustained movement of armed groups across states on motorcycles, coupled with recurring attacks on villages, reflected a weakening security response that required urgent federal intervention.
Tambuwal/Kebbe Federal Constituency of Sokoto State, Rep. Abdussamad Dasuki, moved that the motion be amended to include the invitation of the Service Chiefs and the National Security Adviser to provide explanations and answers on the rising wave of insecurity across the country.
The House adopted the amendment.
The House also urrged the Ministry of Defence to deploy more personnel and operational equipment to affected states and mandated the House Committee on Defence to report back within two weeks.
In a separate motion, Osonwa expressed concern over the systematic targeting of schools and places of worship, saying the trend had worsened Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis and deepened national trauma.
He said repeated abductions of schoolchildren and worshippers violated the constitutional responsibility of government to protect lives and property under Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution.
The lawmaker argued that despite significant budgetary allocations to the security sector, the current framework had failed to effectively contain armed groups, leaving many communities vulnerable and displaced.
Following extensive deliberations, the House resolved to condemn the rising wave of insecurity and urged the Federal Government to adopt a more aggressive and coordinated security strategy to restore peace in affected regions.
Lawmakers also resolved to summon the Service Chiefs and the NSA to provide a comprehensive briefing on the security situation and ongoing countermeasures.
Most notably, the House warned that if the administration fails to decisively halt the worsening insecurity within a defined timeframe, security chiefs may be expected to consider honourable resignation for failing to meet constitutional expectations of safeguarding the nation.
The House Committees on Defence, National Security and Intelligence were mandated to monitor implementation of the resolution and report back within two weeks for further legislative action.
