Aggrieved members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, expressed grave concerns over the heinous crime being perpetuated by insurgents with sophisticated ammunition with the aid of foreigners in Borno and other Northern states of the Federation.
The lawmakers who spoke in turns during a debate on the motion of urgent public importance bothering on the recent fire incident at the armoury at Giwa Barracks and the escalating attacks on military formations in Borno and Yobe states, sponsored by Hon. Ahmed Satomi, frowned at the spate of killing of innocent Nigerians including security personnel without any checks.
Speaking on the motion, Hon. Satomi lamented that “Boko Haram have escalated their attacks on several military formations within these two months.
“The House is also aware: that several soldiers and civilians were killed in the recent attacks.
“The House is worried that the Barack’s was severally attacked by Boko haram and the surrounding civilian settlement continue to be at risk.
“The House is concerned that the recent surge in Boko Haram attacks on military formation is deeply alarming, and also bravery and sacrifice of our military personnel are being tested by these relentless assault.”
He therefore urged the House to conduct a thorough review of security measures in military installations to prevent similar incidents and strengthen security operations in Borno and Yobe states to protect military personnel and civilians.
In his address, Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Hon. Babajimi Benson argued that the Presidency has “expended so much money, so much resources on Nigerian military without commensurate results. Mr. Speaker, I also say with all sense of responsibility that Mr. President has on many times, many occasions, put the creation of state police on the frontline.
“Mr. Speaker, I also stand to say with no equivocation that Mr. President has put up the autonomy of the government on the front line.
“Mr. Speaker, all these have not been achieved. They are not to be proved by the Presidency. However, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to amend the motion brought by Honourable Satomi to invite the NSA, the CDS, and the top military echelon for an executive session. Mr. Speaker, I do not think that that is necessary because what you request, based on the prior, is for a joint committee.”
In his contribution, chairman, House Committee on Navy, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, said, the House has to go beyond a series of resolutions it has passed on the issues of insecurity and its devastating effects in the country.
He said that there is a need to confront all the agencies responsible for the implementation of the resolutions to address the situation which he said has defied all measures and was becoming more rampant.
He warned that, as Nigerians are being killed daily across the nation from the North to the South and from the East to the West, there is every tendency for them to resort to self-defense and nobody can control it if what needs to be done is done.
He informed that arms and ammunition as well as platforms of the Nigerian Armed Forces have been taken away by Boko Haram.
He however lamented, “And when the leaders, when the Governor is crying, or the representative of government, are forced to issue a statement, undermining the supremacy of the chief security officer of the state, who knows what is happening in the state, who is crying, and someone within the comfort of his own will say that the Governor is raising an unnecessary alarm, we are rascals, Nigerians are killing. This is unacceptable.
“Mr. Speaker, we must stand up and find a way of bringing this issue of insecurity together. Otherwise, you and I are the same. No matter how Nigerians respect us, we are moving to a level where Nigerians will fight us the way they fight criminals and the way they fight Boko Haram.
“Until the right thing is done by us here, until we speak for the Nigerian people, until we draw a line, until we tell government what we are supposed to tell government, and until government responds by action, not by media statement or press statement.”
On his part, Chairman, House Committee on Insurance and Actuarial, Hon. Ahmed Jaha who warned that Boko Haram attack is coming back in full force, maintained that the recent insurgent attack is becoming complicated in intensity and form because they are now using armed, sophisticated drones to wage attacks.
Rep. Jaha noted that it was undeniable that, Borno State which had in the past witnessed a reduction in the attacks leading to the return of people that were hitherto displaced.
The lawmaker however lamented that the attacks have now returned with unprecedented ferocity by the insurgents leading to the loss of lives of both civilians and military in recent times.
He said: “I am taking as a victim of the recent resurgence of an insurgence of Boko Haram. I went to my constituency on Saturday to sympathize, to condole with the people who lost their lives as a result of this sporadic, uninterrupted attack.
“I observe one thing. Boko Haram is first coming back worse than what we had in the past. Take it or leave it. In part of my constituency, ten peasant Peasant farmers were slaughtered by Boko Haram members five are still at large and three are critically ill in the hospital. In Chibok, 14 peasant farmers were attacked in their community.
“In less than a blink of an eye, they reduced 14 people to nothing. New motorcycles and new AK-47s kill people when they are running for their own lives. In Izge, I lost two military men, a captain, and a senior officer as a result of the Boko Haram insurgence.
“I lost so many constituents. We lost so many constituents because Boko Haram is using armed drones.
“This will be on record. They are using armed drones, weaponized drones, which the Nigerian army is not using. In other words, they are more sophisticated and advanced than the Nigerian army.
“So as I am speaking to you, personnel, there are no Nigeria Army personnel. They don’t have enough personnel to face these boys, that is the truth. They are committed, they are very strong in their own stand, but unfortunately they don’t have enough personnel and equipment to face the Boko Haram. I have seen it. Nobody reported it to me because I went to my constituency on Saturday and came back on Sunday.”
In her contribution, Hon. Zainab Gimba from Borno State, lamented the situation saying that hitherto safe communities have now been turned into a danger zone by the insurgents who use all means to kill, main, and displace as they have done for almost two decades.
She said that, communities in Kala Balge and other places in her constituency who have endured years of suffering as a result of insurgency are now facing bigger challenges than they have witnessed before.
She said: “In my own constituency, Mr. Speaker, there has been a Boko Haram attack on military formation of the multinational joint task force, where more than 20 soldiers were killed.
“And, Mr. Speaker, it will interest you to know that out of the… I visited that formation and the commander told me that out of about nearly 100 soldiers in that formation, we have only 6 Nigerian soldiers. And it is a multinational joint task force where we expect to have, if not equal number, at least substantive number of Nigerian military men in that formation.
“And again, Mr. Speaker, the commanding officer of that formation revealed and confessed that it wasn’t the first or the second time that formation has been attacked, but on that very day, that was on the 24th of March, 2025, that attack was unprecedented”.
While venting his view on the ugly development, Hon. Shettima Ali from Yobe State, alleged that there is foreign influence as regards Boko Haram and other insurgent operations in the North East.
According to him, the insurgents are using far more superior weapons than the Nigerian military saying that, more drastic action must be taken.
In his contribution, member representing Gusau/Tsafe federal constituency, Hon. Kabiru Palace stated that, since the resolutions being taken by the House have not yielded the desired result and Nigerians are being killed by bandits, insurgents, and other criminal elements, the House should adopt another approach to the issue.
He noted that, as a lawmaker who comes from Zamfara, his state is witnessing an unending insecurity that is yet to be addressed despite several resolutions from the National Assembly.
He said, “The majority of my motions this year are about insecurity. Mr. Speaker, nothing has been done, and the pleasure is mounted day by day. Our people are being killed day by day, Mr. Speaker.
“I want this House to come up with another idea to deal with our people. Mr. Speaker, we have to think about how to create a law that will allow our people to protect themselves, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we just need this thing.
“Mr. Speaker, our security personnel are inadequate, Mr. Speaker. They don’t know the terrain of our communities. They are trying their best, but the people are inadequate and they don’t know the terrain of our communities.
“Mr. Speaker, let this House think a law that will allow our people to protect themselves from these menace, Mr. Speaker. This is my thinking and this is my own opinion.”
The lawmaker said, if urgent measures were not taken, innocent Nigerians would continue to suffer from the attacks by criminal elements.
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