The Senate has urged the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Nigeria Security Challenges to address the spate of killings arising of the activities of bandits in the country. 

The call was made on Tuesday by the upper chamber against the backdrop of two motions considered on the need to stem banditry attacks in Niger and Katsina States, respectively. 

Sponsor of one of the motions, Senator Bello Mandiya (APC – Katsina South), lamented what he described as “the rising wave of coordinated armed attacks in several parts of Katsina state by murderous bandits which have led to mass killings of persons.”

According to him, the said bandits engage in other forms of criminal activities such as cattle rustling, kidnapping and mass displacement of people from their ancestral lands. 

The lawmaker recalled that only recently, between Tuesday May 5th and Wednesday 6th, 2020, armed bandits carried out multiple attacks on several communities in Faskari, Kankara, Sabuwa, Dandume, Batsari and Jibia Locka Government Areas of the State. 

The attacks, according to Mandiya, led to the shooting of the Divisional Police Officer, Aminu Abdulkareem, and the kidnap of the Head of Administration of Danmusa alongside his son to an unknown location.  

“The bandits used sophisticated weapons including AK-47 during the deadly operations; in fact they are so emboldened that they now carry out their operations on a daily basis even in broad daylight,” the lawmaker lamented. 

He recalled that following the spate of insecurity in the country, the upper chamber on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, setup an Ad-Hoc Committee on Nigerian Security Challenges, amidst highlighting the urgent need to restructure, review, and reorganize the current security architecture. 

The Senate in its resolutions on the motion considered, accordingly urged the Federal Government to direct the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to immediately send relief materials to the victims of banditry attacks. 

It also urged the Federal Government to direct the Nigeria Police and Nigeria Army to beef up personnel and equipment deployment to flash points of armed banditry in katsina State. 

In a related development, the Senate on Tuesday considered a second motion on the “Urgent need for the Federal Government to take drastic action to bring an end to banditry and kidnapping in Niger East Senatorial District.”

Sponsor of the motion, Senator Sani Musa (APC – Niger East) noted with concern that “banditry and kidnapping has become a daily incidence in Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Niger and Zamfara States for sometime now with huge consequence of loss of lives.”

He expressed worry that “the continuous security challenges and related attacks by bandits on towns and villages in Niger East Senatorial District have meted untold hardship on the people and subjected the affected areas under serious survival threats.” 

Accordingly, the upper chamber in its resolutions urged the Federal Government to establish a permanent military base at the boundary between Alawa and Uregi areas of Shiroro and Rafi Local Government Areas of Niger State to restore confidence in the security and safety of the affected communities. 

The Senate also called on the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, to form a military operation similar to Operation Sharan Daji to mop-up the bandits in their abode at Bakacin Hatsi along Madaka town and Uregi, the Alawa axis as well as Kamuku forest in Niger State. 

………Senate probe of NDDC to complement FG’s forensic audit – Lawan

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said on Tuesday that the investigation being carried out by the Senate into the finances of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) is to complement the ongoing forensic audit which was ordered by the Federal government.

Lawan stated this while inaugurating a seven-man adhoc committee on alleged financial recklessness in the NDDC.

“We are in total support of the President’s directive for the forensic audit of the finances of the NDDC, and this is, in some way, complimentary to that directive,” he said.

The investigation, he said would avail the management of the Comission an opportunity to defend the allegations against it.

Lawan said, “we have no predetermined position on the outcome of this investigation as an institution. Issues raised are allegations, therefore the NDDC has the opportunity to come forward and defend its position.

“But we have a mindset and our mindset in the Senate is that we have to have a Niger Delta Development Commission that is effective and efficient in service delivery to the people of Niger Delta. This is the essence of setting up that Commission.

“So we want to see a situation where the very limited resources that are appropriated for the Niger Delta Development Commission are prudently and transparently deployed for the development of the Niger Delta region. This is our mindset and we will not shy away from our responsibility at anytime we feel a sense that that is not happening.”

The Senate President said the NDDC, as a pioneer intervention agency in the country, should take the lead on how its intervention could be effective, efficient and meet the yearnings of the people.

He expressed the hope that, at the end of the investigation, the NDDC and the Senate will continue to work together to ensure an efficient and effective service delivery to the people of the Niger Delta.

In his remarks, chairman of the adhoc committee, Senator Olubunmi Adetumbi described the allegations that necessitated the setting up of the committee as “numerous and weighty as it involved misapplication and misappropriation of N40 billion” among others.

He assured the Senate leadership of the committee’s resolve to be open minded.

“It is not an exercise aimed at witch-hunting of any individual, groups or institutions, but rather to get at the root of the matter for the overall good of the nation,” Senator Adetumbi said

Other members of the commitee are: Senator Hassan Hadejia, Senator Dauda Jika, Senator Umar Al-Makura, Senator Barinada Mpigi, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari and Senator Chukwuka Utazi.

……..COVID-19: Senate considers bill to boost advanced healthcare in Nigeria  

The Senate on Tuesday considered a critical bill which seeks to boost advanced healthcare service delivery in Nigeria to act as safeguard and response to medical emergency in the future. 

The piece of legislation sponsored by Senator Sandy Onor (PDP – Cross River Central), seeks to establish the Advanced Healthcare Development Fund.  

Leading debate on the bill during plenary, the lawmaker who bemoaned the healthcare system in the country, said same was inadequate to meet the needs of Nigerians. 

According to him, “the current state of tertiary healthcare in Nigeria can only be described as grossly inadequate and unable to meet the healthcare needs of the citizens. 

“Nigeria’s tertiary healthcare system has been ranked 162 in the world with the adequacy of health care practitioners ranked 119; health facilities ranked 131, care systems ranked at 162 and health coverage ranked at 149. 

“Put simply, Nigeria is not performing well in any component of Advanced/Tertiary health care,” Senator Onor said. 

Citing a most recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the lawmaker observed that Nigeria’s current tertiary health challenges span infrastructure to personnel inadequacy. 

“Nigeria has a poor ratio of approximately four Doctors for every 10,000 citizens, 15 Nursing and Midwifery personnel for every 10,000 citizens, one Dentist for every 10,000 citizens and one Pharmacist for every 10,000 citizens. These and other indicators undoubtedly paint a very woeful picture,” the lawmaker said. 

The lawmaker while speaking on the state of teaching hospitals in the country, attributed their inability to develop and record breakthroughs in preventive and curative medicine to poor funding, corruption and infrastructural decay. 

Onor said that if the bill is passed into law, funds to be derived from one percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and one percent of tax from all companies operating in Nigeria would be administered by an independent body of health professionals and experts from within Nigeria and abroad. 

He stressed that “a properly developed, adequately funded and thoroughly a liberated healthcare system at the advanced/tertiary level equips the nations with a standing research apparatus that enables it to proactively respond to any emergent medical emergency.

“Today, the sad reality in our country is that, no such structure in functional and real terms, exist. This explains why the present Coronavirus pandemic took us by storm and is being approached in the panic prone and episodic manner that we have witnessed. This, certainly cannot be allowed to continue. 

Contributing to the debate, Ibikunle Amosun (APC – Ogun Central) advised that the upper chamber to come up with a workable arrangement that would avoid duplicity of responsibilities with the establishment of the Advanced Healthcare Development Fund.  

Senator Stella Oduah (PDP – Anambra North) on her part said the consideration of the bill by the National Assembly “is an opportunity for us to restructure and do what we ought to do and in a proper manner.”

The bill which was exhaustively debated by Senators on the floor, was referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary) to report back in four weeks.

……COVID-19: Why security agencies must enforce ban on interstate travels – Lawan 

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has emphasized the need for security agencies to ensure a total enforcement of the Federal Government’s ban on interstate travels to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus disease.  

Lawan made the call in his remarks sequel to the consideration of a motion on the “Need to enforce Presidential Order banning Interstate Movement”, sponsored by Senator Ike Ekweremadu (PDP- Enugu West).

“There is need for total enforcement on the ban on interstate travels. Apparently, there is so much breach, and it appears like our security agencies who are supposed to enforce this, in most cases appear to look helpless. They need to sit up,” Lawan said. 

“This is a very serious health challenge to our country, but beyond interstate, even the observance of social distancing, hygiene and other protocols sometimes suffer inside the states. 

“I think it is very important that citizens do this because it is for our sake. Government cannot be without citizens, and it is important at this point that we do this for our sake and that of our family members,” the Senate President appealed. 

Earlier, sponsor of the motion, Senator Ike Ekweremadu (PDP – Ekweremadu, lamented the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, which according to him, stands at 4,641 cases and 150 deaths. 

The lawmaker raised alarm that confirmed daily cases of the novel disease by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are now in hundreds. 

He recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari while relying on advisories by relevant authorities and powers conferred on him by Section 3 of the Quarantine Act, CAP Q2 Laws of the Federation 2004, issued the proclamation order for the ban on non-essential interstate passenger travels until further notice. 

According to him, “the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has raised alarm over what it described as increased level of interstate movement, worsened by the dubious concealment of people in food-carrying vehicles.”

He added that, “the Nigeria Governors’ Forum has equally raised serious concerns over the way Nigerians crisscross the country in their numbers despite the subsisting order to the contrary.”

Ekweremadu stressed that in view of the brazen breach of the presidential order, “the nation’s security agencies, particularly the police, have the responsibility to enforce law and order, including the presidential ban on interstate movement.”

Accordingly, the Senate in its resolutions called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and heads of all security agencies charged with enforcing the ban on interstate travel to investigate the alleged complicity of their officers in the breach of the curfew and ban on interstate travels and bring to book anyone found wanting. 

The upper chamber also called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to fully enforce presidential orders on curfew and ban on non-essential interstate travel as well as ensure that their various commands cooperate with respective State authorities in enforcing the presidential orders and other protocols aimed at rolling back the COVID-19 pandemic.