Senate summons Pantami over worsening insecurity in Nigeria

The Nigerian Senate has mandated its committees on Legislative Compliance and Communications to summon the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami.

The lawmakers gave the order on Wednesday, saying it was to ensure the minister implements its resolutions regarding security issues.

Rising under Order 42 and 52 of the Senate Rules, Senator Emmanuel Bwachaa had raised a motion on the spate of growing insecurity in Nigeria.

Bawahaa told his colleagues that insecurity in Nigeria had not just increased astronomically but had reached a melting point.

According to him, the situation has given room to kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, assassination and other criminal activities in the country.

“The assassination of the Nasarawa State APC chairman and other high profile cases are still fresh in our memories.

Read also: Pantami gets FEC approval for digital ID for IDPs

“A Chinese national was recently abducted in my community, his whereabouts is still unknown.

“There is growing suspicion of complicity of officials of state saddled with the responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of the citizens but compromised in the process.

“This is heightened by the arrest of several security operatives involved in armed robbery and kidnapping activities across the country.

“It is only in Nigeria that communication facilities can be used without a biometric process, no valid identification of passport details (in the case of foreigners) in place to check abuse,” he said.

Further regretting how bandits and terrorists now negotiate for ransom using telephones and get away with it he said:

“How can we be so negligent and insensitive to the safety and security of citizens?

“Senate is concerned that the confidence between the protected and the protector is being increasingly eroded resulting in the breakdown of law and order as demonstrated in the #EndSARS protest which was subsequently hijacked by miscreants.

“The Senate further notes that political permutations across the landscape are attracting politicians to recruit criminals for the purpose of destabilising the corporate existence of Nigeria.

“These evil intents can be easily achieved given the poor control over communication facilities viz inability of our security apparatus and service providers to effectively manage this all-important sector.”

Base on the motion, the Senate resolved to summon Pantami.

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