The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has said that the measures taken so far on security issues in the country have not been long-lasting, warning that the Senate needs to come up with permanent solutions.
Ekweremadu spoke at the Plenary on Wednesday in Abuja.
Senator representing Taraba South constituency at the Senate, Emmanuel Bwacha, who introduced the topic, cited Order 42 concerning the issue of insecurity, particularly the problem of kidnapping which, he said, was at “a worrisome and alarming rate in Taraba South and Jalingo.”
“It’s so bad that even in broad daylight, it happens and the Police watch helplessly.
“When ransom is demanded, most people pay and those kidnapped are still not released,” Bwacha said as the discussion gained ground at the Plenary.
“We have to come up with a legislative intervention, as not every Nigerian can afford to protect themselves from these kidnappers,” he added.
Contributing to the discussion, Senator representing Zamfara Central at the Senate, Kabir Marafa, cited Orders 42 and 52 and expressed concerns about the “incessant killings” in Zamfara State, commending Nigerians at home and in the diasporas for their support for the people of Zamfara.
He then moved a motion on the need to create an intervention fund in the 2019 Appropriation to take care of the humanitarian crises in Zamfara State caused by armed bandits.
In response, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu commended Marafa for constantly keeping the Senate informed on the issues on Zamfara State.
“Because most media houses don’t have offices in Zamfara, the nation was not aware of what was going on in Zamfara State,” Ekweremadu said.
He lamented, “Measures taken so far on security in the nation are not long-lasting. We have to come up with permanent solutions.”
Expressing his support for Marafa’s motion to have intervention fund created for Zamfara in the 2019 Appropriation Bill, the Senator representing Yobe North Constituency at the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said, “I fully support this motion. People are losing their lives, we have to look at what we can do immediately to fix this.
“The security situation varies from place to place. We need to engage with security agencies to know what measures can be taken and applied.”
“Security agencies also need resources to function well. We need to engage and be on the same page with them.”
Bwacha decried security agents’ perceived helplessness, noting that the case was not necessarily that of lack of funds to prosecute the war against insecurity in any part of the nation.
“Security Officers are helpless in many of these situations. We have made funding available to them before and have seen no results. We have to take a more pro-active approach to this.”
The senator representing Zamfara North at the Senate, Tijjani Kaura, however commended media reports on the Zamfara attacks, saying, “The newspapers in the country are awash with the sad news in Zamfara State.
“The peaceful protests clearly yielded good results as there was renewed military action in Zamfara State following the protests.”
He, however, agreed that more could be done to make Nigerians feel safe in their various states.
