Senate to meet service chiefs over rising insecurity

The Senate has scheduled a closed-door meeting with the nation’s security chiefs to address the increasing insecurity in the country.

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The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced this during plenary on Wednesday, stating that the service chiefs would appear before the lawmakers next week.

Mr Akpabio did not specify the exact date, he only confirmed that the security chiefs had communicated their readiness for the engagement.

“In the chambers last week we invited our service chiefs to come for a closed door briefing on the general security of the nation and they sent a message to me that they will be ready in a week. So, I will expect them, we will take them latest next week,” Mr Akpabio said during the plenary.

The security chiefs expected to engage with the senators are the Chief of Defence Staff, Chris Musa; the Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Naval Staff, Emmanuel Ogalla; and the Chief of Air Staff, Hassan Abubakar.

Others are the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; the Director-General of the State Security Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed.

Nigeria is currently grappling with multiple security crisis across different regions such as Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and farmers-herders clashes.

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While the Boko Haram terrorists are active in the North-eastern Nigeria, banditry and kidnapping are predominant in the North-west and Nort-central regions.

The conflicts between farmers and herders over land and resources have led to deadly clashes, particularly in the North-central region.

These security threats not only endanger lives but also negatively impact the economy by increasing defence spending, disrupting agricultural production, driving inflation, and reducing investor confidence.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), recently revealed that insecurity in Nigeria claimed over 600,000 lives between May 2023 and April 2024.

The report also showed that 2,235,954 Nigerians were kidnapped and ₦2.23 trillion (approximately $1.44 billion) paid in ransom during the period.

US allegations on terrorist financing

Nigeria’s security crisis gained international attention after US Congressman Scott Perry alleged that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided funding to terrorist organisations, incldung ISIS, al-Qaeda and Boko Haram, in Nigeria.

In response, the Senate in February summoned the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, along with the heads of the NIA and SSS, over allegations of foreign funding for terrorist groups operating in the country.