Nigeria’s Senate on Wednesday urged President Bola Tinubu to approve the immediate recruitment of at least 100,000 military personnel to strengthen security, following the abduction of 25 students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State.
The upper chamber also set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the expenditure on the Safe School Initiative and called for the immediate rescue of the abducted students.
The resolutions followed an urgent motion sponsored by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC Kebbi North), who described the kidnapping and the killing of the school’s vice principal as a “wake-up call” for the nation. “A country that cannot secure its children is not worth living in,” he said.
Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC Borno North) condemned the act as “dastardly,” while Senator Francis Fadahunsi (APC Osun East) questioned why banditry and terrorism persist despite government efforts. “Crime is spreading every day. Nigerians must stand up against this impunity before we have problems from abroad,” Fadahunsi said.
Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East) called for more military personnel to patrol ungoverned areas exploited by criminals. Former Senate President Ahmad Lawan (APC Yobe North) stressed the need to audit the Safe School Programme established after the 2014 Chibok abductions, noting that schools remain insecure.
After deliberations, the Senate called for the immediate rescue of the abducted pupils, urged the president to approve new military recruitment, and directed its Committees on Finance, Education, and Defence to probe the Safe School Initiative fund.
The chamber also observed a minute of silence for the slain vice principal and Brigadier General Uba Musa, killed by ISWAP terrorists in Damboa, Borno State.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio said: “No country is free of crime. Our responsibility is to make laws, pass motions, and take decisions that reduce crime to the barest minimum.”