Nigerian Senate Asks President Buhari To Declare State Of Emergency On Insecurity

The Nigerian Senate has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency due to the rising cases of insecurity across the country.

The senate made the call on Wednesday following the abduction of students and teachers of government science college, Kagara, Niger State.

The sponsor of the motion, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, who represents Niger east. said it was gathered that the gunmen stormed the school wearing military uniforms.

“The bandits were dressed in military uniforms when they attacked the boarding school, overpowered the security guards before whisking away the students, and killing some which numbers are to yet to be confirmed;

“Aware that the exact number of students kidnapped are not yet known as headcount was being conducted in the school as we speak to ascertain the actual number of missing students; but the school has a population of over 1000 students.

“Further aware that the security agencies were able to detect the coordinates of the area the students were taken to, and have started tracing the bandits’ movement while security aircraft have been seen hovering in the air to track the location of the students;

“Aware that section 14 (2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended stipulates that the welfare and security of citizens shall be the primary responsibility of government; thus government at all levels owe the people the duty to provide adequate security;

“Aware that the recent attack and abduction of school children at Government Science School, Kagara, Niger State is coming on the heels of yet to be resolved Kankara abduction of 300 students which took place at Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State, Chibok Girls in 2014, and abduction of about 100 school girls at Government Girls Science and Technical School, Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018; and

“Concerned that like the other incidents of school children abduction that took place in Chibok and Dapchi, several years back, if no immediate action is taken to rescue Kagara School Students, their fate may be sealed in the hands of terrorists; and..

“…Further worried that Niger, Katsina and many other states in North-west And North-central Nigeria are now bedevilled by Bandits attacks. The bandits Kill and kidnap at will despite the large deployment of police officers and soldiers to the affected states;

“Notes also on Sunday, 14th February 2021, many commuters and passengers numbering 57 were abducted in Kundu, all within the same area and yet to be released.”

Meanwhile, an angry APC Senator representing Niger South, Muhammad Enagi Bima, took a swipe at Buhari’s government, saying it is incompetent in handling the Security challenges in the country,

“Buhari’s government is incompetent. This issue has been soscussed here over and over and there’s no improvement, things are getting worse.

“I’m sure everybody here has stories to tell about the security challenges that we are facing, what else are we supposed to do that we are not doing. Are we supposed to amend the laws to give every citizen right to carry arms?

“Our government at the center is showing incompetence in handling the security challenges. Let all of us here imagine that it’s his son or daughter that’s is kidnapped, everybody in government should think like that.

“We have a lot of youths undergraduates in this country unemployed, the government is busy giving palliatives instead of creating economic activities that will engage the unemployed and improve the welfare of the people.”

On his part, the Deputy Chef Whip, Sabi Abdullahi, warned that Niger State is not far from the federal capital and that if action was not taken, the ones who feel safe in the FCT will no longer do so.

At the end of the debate, the Senate asked Mr Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on insecurity in the country.

It also urged him to consider and implement the recommendations of the Senate adhoc committee on Nigeria’s Security Challenges as a response to the mounting security challenges across the country.

KanyiDaily recalls that the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, has also advised Nigerians to defend themselves from armed bandits instead of showing cowardice in the face of attacks.