The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security without delay, to contain the deteriorating level of insecurity in the country.
“The President should immediately declare emergency on the security sector,” while calling on the judiciary to accelerate trial of suspected terrorists, bandits, and others criminals,” the House said in a series of decisions it reached at the meeting.
Nigeria is going through its worst peace-time insecurity that has seen groups of bandits and terrorists roaming the countryside, abducting people and taking them to forests and asking for ransom.
The bandits kidnap travellers on roads; students at schools and universities, as well as farmers on farms and in villages.
The members condemned the attacks on security personnel and formations around the country and sympathised with the families of victims.
While asking all security committees to immediately audit arms and ammunition of security agencies within four weeks, the House stated that “the number of personnel in police and military fall far short to effectively secure the country,” and called for immediate recruitment of operatives.
Some members in their experiences, with some of them lamenting the devastation that banditry and terrorism have brought upon their constituents.
One member from Niger State said he could no longer visit his village as the bandits have taken over the place. He recounted how the bandits raided his village, carting away women and girls.
