Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate, on Wednesday charged Service Chiefs and security agencies to immediately swing into action and repel attacks and assaults by armed bandits on Nigerians across some states in the North.
Lawan made the call after consideration of a motion brought to the floor by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) and was contained in a statement by his Special Assistant on Press, Ezrel Tabiowo.
He said, “The motion we have just taken is a very serious one and I would urge the security agencies to act as quickly and expeditiously as possible to repel the attacks and assaults by the bandits.
“The essence of any government is the protection of lives and properties, and this is what we have to do for our citizens as an administration and as a government.
“We hope that this situation will be brought to an end and we will do everything possible, working with the executive to ensure that we secure the lives of our citizens and their properties.”
Earlier, Senator Musa, in his motion, said confirmed reports from Madaka ward, Burwaye, Tagina, Gaude, Ungwar Sarki Noma, Gyaramiya, Maganda, Samunaka, Kurmi villages of Alawa, all in Rafi and Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, have been under attack.
According to the lawmaker, “many people have been killed and abducted including the District Head of Madaka.”
He bemoaned that “these attacks continued without any presence of Security Personnel in the Communities leaving them in the hands of the bandits.
“The current criminal wreckage among other havoc on fire Victims, set many homes on fire and carted away many cattle and other valuable assets worth millions of naira.”
The Senate, accordingly, urged the Service Chiefs and other Security Agencies to deploy immediately troops and materials to tackle the menace and to change the Security architecture of the area to forestall and bring back peace
and order.
The upper chamber also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to urgently provide relief materials to the affected areas in view of the harsh harmattan weather experience across Nigeria.
