Nigeria Lawmakers Ask President To Declare State Of Emergency Over Insecurity

Nigerian Lawmakers have urged the country’s President, Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency over the state of insecurity in the country.

This is coming on the heels of secondary school boys’ abduction in Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State, Northcentral Nigeria.

The Senate, Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber passed the resolution on Wednesday during a plenary.

Earlier, Sani Musa, senator representing Niger East, moved the motion for the declaration of state of emergency in the country battling Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, banditry in the Northwest and parts of northcentral, and farmers-herders crisis in the South.

Musa called on the government to work towards ensuring the safety of Nigerian citizens.

“The constitution stipulates that the welfare of citizens is the primary responsibility of government, so governments at all levels owe it as a duty to provide adequate security,” the lawmaker said.

Backing the motion, Mohammed Enagi, another lawmaker described the Federal Government as “incompetent” in its inability to curtail the current security situations.

“The enemies of God, bandits, terrorists, kidnappers are everywhere. Where are we heading to in this country? What else do we need as lawmakers that we are not doing? Enagi said.

“Can we rightly say that the government is incompetent? Because this issue has been discussed here over and over and there is no improvement. It is getting worse.”

Eyinnaya Abaribe, the Senate Minority leader, called for the President’s resignation “over his inability to handle insecurity in the country.”

HumAngle reported how the Kagara schoolboys were abducted by gunmen dressed like the military.

The Niger State Government said 30 people were abducted, including three teachers.

Following the incident, Sani Bello, Governor of Niger State has ordered the closure of all boarding schools in areas affected by banditry.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has also dispatched service chiefs to secure the release of the abducted persons. This was made known to the press in a statement released by Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.