The House of Representatives has set aside Thursday for a full-day national security debate as Nigeria continues to grapple with insecurity.
Speaker of the House, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, announced the decision at Tuesday’s plenary.
He said the scale and spread of violence across the country now requires decisive, collective intervention from lawmakers and security agencies.
Abbas made these remarks on Tuesday when Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, sought to move a motion drawing attention to the recent kidnapping of schoolgirls in Kebbi State and the killing of a senior military officer.
The Speaker stepped the motion down, noting that the House had already reserved Thursday exclusively for security deliberations.
“We are deeply saddened by these unfortunate incidents,” Abbas said. “I announced earlier that we will dedicate the whole of Thursday to security-related matters, and this particular event is one of the reasons behind our decision.”
The Speaker issued a strong directive to security agencies to intensify efforts and reassess their strategies.
“I call on all security agencies to please step up all actions and strategies to ensure the lives and properties of Nigerians are secured,” he said.
He also instructed all lawmakers to come prepared with detailed briefs from their constituencies.
“Every member is invited to make submissions on insecurity in his state or constituency. Thursday will give us the opportunity to hear, in detail, all the security issues bedeviling our constituencies and our states,” Abbas added.