The claim by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar that the absence of enabling legislation has slowed down the prosecution of terrorists was refuted by the Nigerian Senate on Wednesday.
The upper legislative chamber described the IGP’s statement as “surprising” and “very difficult to believe.”
Abubakar had been reported to have blamed Police inability to effectively prosecute the war against terrorism on absence of an anti-terrorism law and as well claimed oblivion of the number of arrested Boko Haram insurgents.
But speaking on Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, expressed the surprise of the Legislature at the claim, insisting that the Senate and the Federal House of Representatives not only passed the Terrorism Prevention Bill on 1st June 2011 but also got President Goodluck Jonathan to sign it into law the following day, 2nd June 2011.
“Let me say that the Senate was very surprised and indeed flabbergasted that the Inspector General of Police would say that there is no anti-terrorism law,” he said. “It is called Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011. It was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on 1st June 2011 and transmitted by the clerk of the National Assembly to the president. To show how important it was to the president, he signed it into law on 3rd June 2011.
Continuing, he said, “I have the bill here and it makes elaborate provisions for prevention of terrorism and for prosecuting those who have committed terrorism act. I think that the IGP has not been briefed properly by his legal staff of the existence of a bill that has been here for a year and five months after its passage.
“What happened is that even on top of the bill that has already been passed, the Senate went ahead to pass an amendment of this Act on 17th October 2012 to expand part of the provisions on that Act.”
Abaribe argued that all that the IGP needs to fight the war against terrorism is already in the Act, and promised that the Senate would forward a copy of the Act to him.
“We find it very difficult to believe that an arm of government could say that it does not have a law that has been signed by the President more than a year ago. I think there is something that is wrong there,” he said.
“So, it is not true that we do not have anti-terrorism law. We actually have an anti-terrorism law … nobody can say that there is no law. I have shown you the law and I have told you when it was signed.”
