Senate invites IGP over security situation in Nigeria

The Senate has invited the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, for a briefing on the security situation in the country.

The IGP was invited following the debate of the motion, “senseless killing of a Briton and the abduction of three others in a Holiday Resort in Kaduna State by armed bandits”, sponsored by Senator Shehu Sani of Kaduna Central district.

British aid worker, Faye Mooney, and her partner Matthew Oguche were killed by kidnappers at the Kajuru castle, a holiday resort in Kaduna State on 19th April.

Senator Sani expressed concern over the spate of the banditry where foreigners and tourists are involved and how it could hurt Nigeria’s diplomatic relationships.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu seconded the motion and offered his condolences to the families of the victims. He stated the need to declare a national emergency to enable the government to put measures in place for a lasting solution to banditry, kidnapping and killing across the nation.

Ekweremadu then prayed the Senate to invite the IGP in hope that their invitation will be honoured.

“Mr President, since we now have a new IGP – as the other one was uninterested in talking to us, let us invite him to give a holistic view of the state of kidnapping across the country with a view to finding a lasting solution,” he said.

This prayer was adopted unanimously.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had earlier complained about the lack of cooperation of the police with the Upper Chamber.

“You (the senators) have all been in this chamber for one year we could not even communicate, converse or engage with the Nigeria Police.

“You were all here when the Head of Police refused to even come before us. How can we work together to move things forward because at the end of the day, we must begin to sit down with those in charge and discuss what we need to do, how do we help you?”

The Senate resolved to urge the government to intensify the search for the perpetrators of the Kajuru castle killing and kidnap and bring them to book. It also urged the government to set up an interagency task force to  tackle the cases of banditry and kidnapping in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Niger States.

After the Senate resolved to invite the new IGP, Saraki expressed hope that the resolutions taken by the Upper Chamber will cause an improvement in Nigeria’s security situation.

“As I said, we lost a lot of time and there was very little cooperation with the Head of Police and we hope that with the new Acting Inspector General of Police, the good actions we have taken on the issue of the Bills we have passed from Police Reform Act and Trust Fund shows that we are ready to work very closely with them to see how they can be successful,” Saraki said.

”We hope that with this, we will begin to see improvement in the security situation in the country.”