INSECURITY: Senate urges Buhari to declare state of emergency in aftermath of Kagara schoolboys’ abduction

The Senate has implored President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency due to the deteriorating state of security across the country.

Ripples Nigeria had earlier reported that suspected gunmen abducted students and teachers of Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, Niger State on Wednesday morning, February 17.

In the aftermath of this unfortunate event, the lawmakers called on the President Buhari-led administration to implement the various recommendations of the Senate on how to tackle insecurity.

These resolutions of the Senate followed a motion on a matter of urgent public importance on the incident by Senator representing Niger East, Mohammed Sani Musa.

According to Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the frequent incidents of kidnapping of students would reverse the gains made in school enrollment over the years in the North.

He said parents would no longer yield to persuasion to enroll their wards in school with the level of insecurity plaguing the area especially the kidnap of school children.

However, the Senate President clarified that the security agencies had challenges with personnel and funds.

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Lawan said, “Abduction of students from school happens in the northern part of Nigeria.

“With incidences like this, parents would be scared to take their wards to school, and the efforts of the past and by present leaders at providing education would be defeated.

“Service chiefs have to secure the schools and have to carry the states along.”

In his contribution, Senator Mohammed Birma Enagi (Niger South) described the Federal Government as “incompetent” in dealing with the rising insecurity in the country.

He said, “We need to amend the constitution so that governors should be chief security officers of their states since the government at the centre had failed to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians.

“The Federal Government is busy giving palliative instead of creating employment, thus aggravating insecurity.

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