Insecurity: Reps demand urgent action on banditry, school abductions, warn service chiefs

The Nigerian House of Representatives has called for immediate and decisive government action to combat the escalating wave of banditry, mass kidnappings, and attacks on schools and places of worship nationwide. Lawmakers issued a stern warning: if the government fails to restore order within a specified timeframe, the service chiefs should resign honorably for not fulfilling their constitutional duty of protecting citizens.

The urgent plea followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Ibe Osonwa, who highlighted the deteriorating security situation and the growing threats to schoolchildren, worshippers, and rural communities. Osonwa reminded the House that Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution places the security and welfare of citizens as the government's primary responsibility. He lamented that the continued abduction of schoolchildren has disrupted education, forced thousands out of school, and worsened Nigeria's existing out-of-school children crisis.

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With profound grief and alarm, we note the unrelenting daily escalation of banditry, mass kidnappings and terror attacks across various states of the federation, which have left the nation in a perpetual state of mourning and fear.

Osonwa expressed profound grief and alarm over the relentless daily escalation of banditry, mass kidnappings, and terror attacks, which have plunged the nation into a state of mourning and fear. He specifically noted the increasing trend of attacks on schools and places of worship, institutions once considered safe havens, which have now become targets for kidnappers and armed groups. The lawmaker further stated that ordinary Nigerians feel abandoned as businesses collapse, farming communities are deserted, and families struggle to pay ransoms for abducted relatives.

Questioning the effectiveness of the country's security architecture, Osonwa pointed out that despite substantial allocations to defense and security agencies in national budgets, the current system appears overwhelmed and reactive. He warned that the security agencies' apparent inability to decisively confront criminal groups creates the impression that the government has lost control in parts of the country. Contributing to the debate, Chinedu Ogah urged the House to include the Nigerian Police Force among the entities facing scrutiny.

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Despite the trillions of naira allocated to the defence and security sectors in consecutive national budgets, the current security architecture appears overwhelmed, reactive and incapable of halting the sophisticated operations of these bandits.