The Senate, on Thursday, urged President Bola Tinubu to overhaul the security response to incessant attacks of bandits in the North-West and the North Central regions of the country.
The legislative chamber also called on the President to constitute a task force to secure farmlands in order to ensure increased food production and security.
This, the lawmakers added, would address the rising cost of food items being experienced nationwide by Nigerians.
The resolutions were sequel to a motion co-sponsored by Senator Nasiru Zangon-Daura (APC, Katsina North) and 10 other lawmakers from the North-West zone.
Moving the motion during plenary, Zangon-Daura lamented the worsening insecurity in the North-West with many Nigerians killed and many others languishing in captivity.
He argued that state governments in the North-West had allocated significant funds to augment the operations of the security agencies in combating banditry and restoring peace in the region, but little or no results had been achieved.
He said, “The incessant banditry attacks in the North-West region will significantly impact food production and agricultural activities, thus jeopardising food security and livelihood of the people in the affected states of the region, especially in the present rainy season.”
In his contribution, Aminu Tambuwal (PDP, Sokoto South), urged President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the North-West, to enable the military to run the bandits out of town.
“There is a need for a state of emergency on insecurity in the North-West,” he said, noting that if the situation was not addressed, food production would be severely affected.
Similarly, Senator Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South), said, “The time to take decisive action is now. I think the leadership of the Senate should interface with Mr President to address this issue.”
Meanwhile, Senator Muntari Dandutse (APC, Katsina South) said 122 persons were killed in his senatorial district in four local government areas within one week and called for the political will to end the killings.
“There is no synergy, no coordination, no cooperation among the security agencies. We should have the political will to deal with these criminals,” he said.
On his part, Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) said in appointing the Inspector General of Police, the National Security Adviser and other security chiefs, the President should first extract a commitment from them on the timeframe for ending insecurity.
After several contributions, the plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, urged the relevant security agencies to collaborate with the respective state governments, local communities, traditional leaders, and stakeholders on intelligence gathering.
The Senate also adopted a motion moved by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) and seconded by Senator Emmanuel Udende (APC, Benue North East) that all resolutions on security in the North0West should apply to the North Central geo-political zone.