NASS promises to continue to engage executive over insecurity

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the National Assembly will continue to engage the Executive arm of government until appropriate action is taken to address the growing insecurity in the country.

 “There’s nothing more important for government to do than securing the lives of citizens of this country, and at all times.

 “As a parliament, we should never get tired of talking about issues that affect our people. We have our own limitations because of the structure of how governance must be carried out, but we must never get tired of reporting what is happening to our people.

  “We should continue to engage with the Executive arm of government until the appropriate actions are taken, because that is what we are expected to do as a Parliament,” the Senate President said.

 Earlier, coming under Order 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules, Senator Bello Mandiya (APC – Katsina South) noted with sadness the recent terrorist attack and abduction of students at Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State by gunmen on Friday, 11th December, 2020 as widely reported in both local and international media.

 “Further notes that according to reports by media organization including Aljazeera, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Premium Times and the Daily Trust Newspapers of 13th December, 2020, more than 300 school boys are still missing following the attack;

 “Aware that the recent attack and abduction of school children at Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State is coming on the heels of yet to be resolved abduction of 270 girls which took place at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in 2014, and abduction of about 100 school girls at Government Science and Technical School, Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018;

Contributing to the debate,  Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC – Niger East) said, “everyday, people are dying and nothing is happening, and we continue to talk, we continue to go and console them. We can’t bring those lives back.”

 “We can’t continue to be leaders, when the people we are leading are being killed everyday. What are the police doing?

 “Mr. President, there’s need for this chamber to draw the attention of Mr. President that enough is enough, these Service Chiefs Should go. We should give impetus to new blood.

 Another lawmaker, Kabiru Barkiya (APC – Katsina Central), while describing the kankara kidnapping as a “sad incident”, advised the National Assembly to take urgent steps towards curbing the increasing spate of insecurity in the country.

 The Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP – Abia South), in a rather short statement, demanded President Muhammadu Buhari to “Bring back our boys.”

 Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC – Nasarawa West) on his part, while identifying the limitations of the National Assembly to intervene, advised that a Committee made up of Senators belonging to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) be constituted to brainstorm on possible solutions to the security problems bedeviling the nation.

 “There’s nothing we haven’t said in this chamber or other fora that was floated by the National Assembly to address national security, but our fortune has not changed, if anything, it has become worse.

 “The solution to the problem is not despair; the solution to the problem is not fault finding. The National Assembly is part of this government.

 Accordingly, the Senate in its resolutions condemned in very strong terms the attack on Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State which led to the abduction and disappearance of over 300 students.

 It also rejected a prayer seeking to invite the Minister of Defence, Major-Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd); Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar; the Director-General, Department of State Security Service, Yusuf Magaji Bichi; and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu to brief the Senate on measures being taken to rescue the missing students.

 The Senate, however, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to consider and implement the recommendations of the Senate Adhoc Committee on Nigeria Security Challenges dated March, 17th 2020 and Senate Resolutions therefrom, as a holistic response to the mounting security challenges across the country.

 The Upper Chamber also rejected an additional motion by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (APC – Kebbi North); and seconded by Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC – Nasarawa West) for the constitution of an Adhoc Committee comprising of APC and PDP lawmakers, to brainstorm on ways to curb the rising security challenges facing the country.