***Summons service chiefs, IGP, others for a closed door session
The Senate has summoned the National security Adviser, Armed Forces, Service Chiefs, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other relevant security agencies to discuss in a closed door the issues of insecurity in the country for a lasting solution.
The resolution came after the adoption of a motion on the “Urgent need for the Improvement of the coordination and synergy between Nigerian Security Forces and Agencies to help strengthen and win the fight against Insecurity in the nation,” sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’adua (APC, Katsina Central)
In his lead debate, Yar’adua emphasized how the contemporary security landscape in Nigeria is posing unprecedented challenges that outstrip the protective capabilities of any security agency alone.
He urged all relevant security agencies and Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to work together to combat insurgencies and other emerging security crises.
He said, “Nigeria has various security agencies aside the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Force. These include the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and other authorised Civilian Task Forces.
“Additionally, Nigeria has other key security services that oversee both internal and external threats, the Department of State Service (DSS), the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
“Nigeria faces numerous simultaneous security crises. These include Boko Haram in the North-East, the activities of bandits and kidnappers in the North-west, the activities of gunmen in the South-east and South-south, and other forms of criminality like armed robbery, herders/farmers clashes and cross-border crimes.”
Speaking further on the numerious incidents of killings and kidnappings in the country, he indicated that on the 23rd of October 2023, at least five people were killed, and some others injured when bandits attacked the Anguwar Dankali community in the Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He went further to point out that, “We are aware of the kidnapping of Major General RC Duru (retired) in Owerri, Imo State on 27th September 2023 by members of IPOB, and the overall nefarious acts of the proscribed outfits, and the much-touted ‘unknown gunmen’ in the Eastern part of the country.
“Troops of Operation SAFE HAVEN (OPSH) and Operation HAKORIN DAMISA IV from 9 to 16 October 2023 neutralised bandit/armed robbers and arrested 59 suspects in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery, cattle rustling, railway vandalism, gunrunning, illegal mining as well as recovered arms/ammunitions and illicit drugs.
“According to reports gathered from the Punch Newspaper on the 18th of October 2023, no fewer than 50 people including a district head, women, and children, have been abducted while three others were reportedly killed in an attack by bandits in Bagega, a mining village in Zamfara State.
“Just recently on the 20th of October 2023, bandits in their numbers raided Danmusa town, the headquarters of Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina State, killing 7 people, and injuring 10 people and kidnapped a yet to be ascertained number of people. Furthermore, the bandits also attacked the people of Wurma, Tamawa and Dadawa villages in Kurfi LG killing people and rustling cattle.”
Continuing he indicated that the main goal of security agencies should be to make Nigeria safe.
According to him, this can only be accomplished if all security agencies and parastatals that are crucial to national security collaborate under a single command structure to make sure that the nation is extremely secure. This kind of coordinated effort also strengthens the interdependence and interrelatedness of Nigerian security agencies.
The Senate thereafter resolved to urge the various security agencies in Nigeria, both military and paramilitary to Improve and enhance their inter-operational synergy and coordination for the effective and holistic tackling of the various types of insecurity plaguing the nation.
The Red Chamber also urged the agencies to develop a National Security Policy document outlining the framework for an improved and streamlined synergy and coordination between the various security agencies.
It further called on the agencies to embark on a joint training to enhance their capabilities and effectiveness in dealing with all forms of security challenges bedeviling the nation.