Nigeria’s security challenges alarming – Reps

The House of Representatives on Tuesday described as alarming the spate of insecurity in the country.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, stated this while briefing journalists after the House adjourned plenary till Wednesday following the death of a member who represented Babura/Garki Federal Constituency of Jigawa State, Hon. Muhammad Fagen-Gawo.

Fagen-Gawo died in a Dubai hospital last year.

He said the cries of those that had been killed by terrorists and bandits are giving them sleepless night, hence the need for legislative interventions to ensure Nigerians are better protected.

Kalu said: “The insecurity in the land is too much, it is alarming, we can no longer paint it with beautiful colours, we can no longer discuss about it in low tunes. The cries of the people that have lost their lives, they are giving us sleepless nights and something needs to be done about it. This Ninth Assembly is going to look at various legislative interventions with regards to insecurity in the land to ensure that Nigerians are safe better than they have always been, because that is the core mandate of every government to protect lives and property.”

He said it was not a wrong decision for the government to call on the police to take over the areas liberated from Boko Haram as it is part of their constitutional role.

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He added: “What is happening with Boko Haram in the North East and the introduction of the police to handle the issues? As you are aware it is the responsibility of the police to take care of internal security.

“There was aspersion about the police on whether they can do it or not. The recent report that we are getting shows the police are capable of handling our internal security. There are some success stories coming from what they are doing at the moment. We are going to use legislative intervention to support them the more and not only that, for all the other role-players within the armed forces to make sure that the more people are motivated the more they protect Nigerians.”

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