Reps Hold Special Security Session, Warn of Deepening National Crisis
The House of Representatives on Tuesday held a special plenary session on Nigeria’s worsening security crisis, with Speaker Tajudeen Abbas urging citizens to resist fear and stay united.
Abbas warned Nigerians against fake news and misinformation following recent attacks, saying social media abuse was escalating tension. He called on citizens to rely on verified information.
The session was attended by officials from the U.S. Embassy, the Speaker of Saint Kitts and Nevis Parliament, cabinet ministers and civil society groups.
Abbas said the past week’s attacks showed “coordinated attempts to destabilise the country,” targeting soft communities to create widespread fear.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his “swift response,” noting the withdrawal of VIP police escorts for frontline duties and recent rescue operations in Kwara and Niger states.
He said ongoing reforms in the security sector were yielding results and led the House in a minute’s silence for victims and fallen personnel.
The Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu warned that Nigeria faces a “rapidly worsening, multi layered security crisis.” saying “kidnappings across Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Anambra, and illegal “taxes” imposed on communities, showed that criminals were running parallel systems of authority”
Kalu blamed an “over centralised police structure, weak borders and poor inter agency coordination” for the crises just as he faulted informal amnesty deals and ransom negotiations, saying they had “legitimised violence.”
He demanded a total ban on such negotiations and called for decentralised policing and predictable police funding.
The Lawmaker proposed new legislation, including an Anti-Banditry Bill, sanctions for unauthorised amnesty deals and a drone operations law.
Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda accused the government of “sleeping over continued religious genocidal killings by terrorists.”
He warned against politicising insecurity, stressing that framing the crisis as Christian versus Muslim distracts from economic and political drivers of violence.
Chinda said “porous borders, foreign extremist influence and the routine nature of parliamentary debates without action were worsening the situation”.
He proposed a National Border Force and urged lawmakers to treat it as a national emergency.
Lawmakers agreed that parliament must lead the push for fundamental reforms. Kalu said the House must prioritise institutional change, while Chinda called for unity and honesty.
“The solution cannot come from outside. It must come from us,” Chinda said.
