The recent daredevil armed robbery in Edo State and the attack on the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) got members of the Federal House of Representatives fretting on Wednesday, and deciding, in a motion of urgent national importance, that the country’s insecurity crisis has reached a level where it cannot continue.
Leading the debate on the motion, Hon Abubakar Momoh described Tuesday’s robbery in Auchi, Edo State, which claimed the lives of three soldiers, some policemen and civilians, as testament to the seriousness of the country’s insecurity challenge.
Similarly, Hon Rapheal Nnanna said the successful operation by gunmen, who invaded the headquarters of Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja, invalidated the capability of the security personnel to stem the tide.
He recalled that the SARS invasion came less than 24 hours after the bombing of a protestant church at Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna, resulting in deaths to 17 people and injuries to several others.
“The state of insecurity in the country has reached an embarrassing level. What happened in Jaji and SARS headquarters is embarrassing to the leadership and people of this nation,” he said. “If the gunmen could operate and go unhurt at the premises of security agents, they could also invade the National Assembly. I see these people coming to the National Assembly very soon.”
Sounding a note of warning on the far-reaching implication of allowing the current trend to continue, Hon Samson Osagie (Edo,ACN) said the Federal Government must adopt a realistic strategy to checkmate the bandits.
“We can’t afford to fold our hands and watch these hoodlums kill and maim innocent people the way they are doing,” he warned.
Another lawmaker, Hon Jerry Alagbaso urged security agents to step up intelligence gathering, and called for immediate supply of sophisticated arms to security personnel, to enable them confront bandits.
“Government must improve the sophistication of arms that our security agents use,” he said. “It is the only way to overcome the current challenge. Our security must improve on intelligence gathering.”
