Reps Pass No Confidence Vote In Security Agencies

There was anger in the House of Representatives yesterday over worsening insecurity and killings in the Northwest.

The lawmakers lamented that the security agencies seem to have run out of ideas on how to halt the bloodshed.

The House adjourned in honour of those who lost their lives in Monday’s terrorist attack on the Kaduna-Abuja train.

It insisted that the President must take full responsibility for the failure of security agents.

Emotions were high as members took turns to contribute to the motion of urgent public importance by Balarabe Lawal Giwa.

Leading the debate, Giwa decried the continuous siege on different communities in Kaduna State.

He said in less than a month, over 100 people have been killed, hundreds abducted, thousands displaced and properties worth hundreds of millions destroyed.

Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said he was short of words to defend the government’s failure.

He said: “When things like this continue on a daily basis, those of us who are representative of government become speechless. We become speechless in defending the actions of government.”

Doguwa also called for Nigerians to be allowed to carry firearms to protect themselves.

A member of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, said there may be more to what was happening in Kaduna State.

“A situation where the airport, railway, the highway and communities are attacked all within one week goes to say a lot. Our security agencies are really failing and people are getting more and more hopeless,” he said.

Another lawmaker, Aminu Suleiman, said the House should take a more drastic step since its previous resolutions have not had the desired effect.

“If our resolutions are not working, is it not possible to close this chamber and join ASUU and say we are not resuming here until the Commander-in-Chief performs his duties?

“We have the power to drive the process and ensure that the President takes responsibility. It will be difficult to go back and tell our people that we have debated this and passed resolutions. Yes, we have passed resolutions.

“But have they addressed the situation? We must do something dramatic and serious to show our people that we are serious because when a revolution starts, some of the innocent ones may be the victims.

“I pray that we don’t get to that point and for that not to happen, we must rise and do the needful.”

Nasir Ali Ahmed, while commiserating with the victims of the violence in Kaduna state, called for the removal of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

Also yesterday, former governor of Imo State and Senator Representing Imo West Senatorial District, Rochas Okorocha, described the attack on the Abuja-bound train as a national tragedy.

In a statement by his spokesman Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha urged Nigerians “to remain steadfast in praying for the nation and for the victims of the ugly and shocking incident”.

A former Senator representing Kaduna Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, called for Nigerians to be allowed to carry firearms to protect themselves.

He tweeted: “If the government and security agencies can’t crush these terrorists and bandits kidnapping and killing our people in Northern and Southern Kaduna, people should be officially allowed to carry the same weapons and let’s see who owns the land.”

The Senator also urged the government to recruit locals between Abuja and Kaduna villages to protect the roads and rail tracks.

Graduates of the University of Lagos under the auspices of the Akokites Graduates Initiative For Transparency and Development (AGITAD) condemned Monday’s bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna train.

AGITAD, in a statement by its Director of Media and Public Engagements, Dr. Hanson Aimofumeh, said the bombing – about 24 hours after a reported attack near the Kaduna Airport – suggests a breakdown of security in the country.

“We are highly agitated and particularly saddened by these events and view the Monday attack on the facilities of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, as one attack too many.

“This, especially, with regards to the good work Fidet Okheria, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) a great Akokite in our number, has been doing to resuscitate and reposition the Corporation and by extension, generally making transportation by rail a great pleasure and convenience to a majority of Nigerians,” AGITAD noted in the statement.