Senators on Tuesday raged at the worsening state of security in the country decrying the spate of bombings and killings by members of the Boko Haram sect resolved to summon the Inspector-General of Police, Defence Chief and the Director-General of the State Security Service to provide explanations.
The Senators’ anger coincided with a condemnation of acts of violence perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect by the European Union and United States embassy.
At the commencement of plenary by the Seventh Senate, the federal lawmakers used angry words to sum up the security situation in the country, the height of which was the June 16 attack on the Louis Edet House headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja by a lone bomber suspected to be a member of the sect.
A policeman, the lone bomber and three others, according to the police, died in the attack in which 33 vehicles were burnt and 20 others destroyed.
“It is gradually becoming a national embarrassment. I think we should revisit our motion on bomb blasts and the need to overhaul our security agencies,” former spokesperson for the Senate, Senator Ayogu Eze, said in his contribution during the debate that preceded the resolution to summon the security chiefs.
Eze said tackling the security situation in the country was beyond “paying lip service.”
Senator Sola Adeyeye from Osun State said, “Nigeria is hanging on a precipice and the political leadership must at this point rise up to terminate this orgy of violence or the political class will be terminated by the violence.”
In the motion to debate the recent incidences of bombing in the country, Senator Solomon Ita-Enang (Akwa Ibom North), had said that something urgent needed to be done to stem the destruction of lives and property resulting from terrorist attacks.
Ita-Enang had indeed canvassed the composition of an ad-hoc committee to probe the situation but the Senators opposed the motion and resolved that the IGP and SSS D-G appeared before it for a closed-door interaction.
While most of the Senators expressed similar positions on the need to curtail the activities of Boko Haram, Senator Maina Lawan (Borno North) argued that the situation should be looked into from all sides, including the alleged extra-judicial killings of innocent citizens during the raid on Boko Haram hideouts in Borno State in 2009.
He said over 2,000 people were killed during the raid. Leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested by soldiers during the raid but died later in the custody of the police.
In a joint statement in Abuja, on Tuesday, the EU mission and the US Embassy described the horrific killings by the sect as an affront to the rule of law and democratic principles.
The statement reads in part: “The Heads of Mission of the European Union and the United States of America in Nigeria express deep concern over the bombings and attacks in Borno State.
“The latest of these on Sunday 26 June reportedly resulted in at least 25 deaths. We condemn such acts, which are an affront to the rule of law and democratic principles.
“There is no place in society for these horrific acts of violence and there should be no impunity for the perpetrators.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families and friends of those killed.”
Boko Haram, meaning Western education is sin, was reportedly founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, and set as its mission the establishment of Shariah law and Islamic government in Nigeria. The group gained notoriety in 2004 when its members set up a base in Kanamma, Yobe State. They named the base “Afghanistan.” From Afghanistan, Boko Haram elements moved out to attack nearby police outposts, killing police officers.
In Bauchi the group was reported as refusing to mix with local people.
In July 2009 the Nigerian police started investigating the group, consequent upon which a number of its leaders were arrested in Bauchi thus sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces, especially the police.
An estimated 700 people had so fat been killed in Boko Haram attacks in the northern part of the country.
In Yobe State, Boko Haram fighters reportedly “used fuel-laden motorcycles” and “bows with poison arrows” to attack a police station. In January 2010, the group struck again in Borno, killing four people in Dala Alemderi ward in Maiduguri metropolis.
On September 7, 2010, Boko Haram freed over 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi State. In December 2010, the police accused its members of being responsible for bombing a market in Maiduguri, prompting the arrest of 92 of its members.
Since the beginning of the year, the group had been fingered in a number of attacks, including the series of bombings in northern Nigeria on May 29 that left 15 dead. On June 26, the sect carried out a bombing attack on a beer joint in Maiduguri. Eyewitnesses said men on motorcycles threw explosives into the drinking spot, killing about 25 people.
The attack on the police headquarters came barely three days after the IG, Afiz Ringim, threatened to rout members of the group. Both the police and the group admitted that Boko Haram was behind the bombing of the police building.
The group has rejected suggestions that its members be granted amnesty like the Niger Delta militants. But Boko Haram, recently, in a pamphlet distributed in Maiduguri gave conditions for ceasefire.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayThe Senators’ anger coincided with a condemnation of acts of violence perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect by the European Union and United States embassy.
At the commencement of plenary by the Seventh Senate, the federal lawmakers used angry words to sum up the security situation in the country, the height of which was the June 16 attack on the Louis Edet House headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja by a lone bomber suspected to be a member of the sect.
A policeman, the lone bomber and three others, according to the police, died in the attack in which 33 vehicles were burnt and 20 others destroyed.
“It is gradually becoming a national embarrassment. I think we should revisit our motion on bomb blasts and the need to overhaul our security agencies,” former spokesperson for the Senate, Senator Ayogu Eze, said in his contribution during the debate that preceded the resolution to summon the security chiefs.
Eze said tackling the security situation in the country was beyond “paying lip service.”
Senator Sola Adeyeye from Osun State said, “Nigeria is hanging on a precipice and the political leadership must at this point rise up to terminate this orgy of violence or the political class will be terminated by the violence.”
In the motion to debate the recent incidences of bombing in the country, Senator Solomon Ita-Enang (Akwa Ibom North), had said that something urgent needed to be done to stem the destruction of lives and property resulting from terrorist attacks.
Ita-Enang had indeed canvassed the composition of an ad-hoc committee to probe the situation but the Senators opposed the motion and resolved that the IGP and SSS D-G appeared before it for a closed-door interaction.
While most of the Senators expressed similar positions on the need to curtail the activities of Boko Haram, Senator Maina Lawan (Borno North) argued that the situation should be looked into from all sides, including the alleged extra-judicial killings of innocent citizens during the raid on Boko Haram hideouts in Borno State in 2009.
He said over 2,000 people were killed during the raid. Leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested by soldiers during the raid but died later in the custody of the police.
In a joint statement in Abuja, on Tuesday, the EU mission and the US Embassy described the horrific killings by the sect as an affront to the rule of law and democratic principles.
The statement reads in part: “The Heads of Mission of the European Union and the United States of America in Nigeria express deep concern over the bombings and attacks in Borno State.
“The latest of these on Sunday 26 June reportedly resulted in at least 25 deaths. We condemn such acts, which are an affront to the rule of law and democratic principles.
“There is no place in society for these horrific acts of violence and there should be no impunity for the perpetrators.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families and friends of those killed.”
Boko Haram, meaning Western education is sin, was reportedly founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, and set as its mission the establishment of Shariah law and Islamic government in Nigeria. The group gained notoriety in 2004 when its members set up a base in Kanamma, Yobe State. They named the base “Afghanistan.” From Afghanistan, Boko Haram elements moved out to attack nearby police outposts, killing police officers.
In Bauchi the group was reported as refusing to mix with local people.
In July 2009 the Nigerian police started investigating the group, consequent upon which a number of its leaders were arrested in Bauchi thus sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces, especially the police.
An estimated 700 people had so fat been killed in Boko Haram attacks in the northern part of the country.
In Yobe State, Boko Haram fighters reportedly “used fuel-laden motorcycles” and “bows with poison arrows” to attack a police station. In January 2010, the group struck again in Borno, killing four people in Dala Alemderi ward in Maiduguri metropolis.
On September 7, 2010, Boko Haram freed over 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi State. In December 2010, the police accused its members of being responsible for bombing a market in Maiduguri, prompting the arrest of 92 of its members.
Since the beginning of the year, the group had been fingered in a number of attacks, including the series of bombings in northern Nigeria on May 29 that left 15 dead. On June 26, the sect carried out a bombing attack on a beer joint in Maiduguri. Eyewitnesses said men on motorcycles threw explosives into the drinking spot, killing about 25 people.
The attack on the police headquarters came barely three days after the IG, Afiz Ringim, threatened to rout members of the group. Both the police and the group admitted that Boko Haram was behind the bombing of the police building.
The group has rejected suggestions that its members be granted amnesty like the Niger Delta militants. But Boko Haram, recently, in a pamphlet distributed in Maiduguri gave conditions for ceasefire.
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