The Senate has commenced investigation into the worsening state of security in the country following the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks.
Consequently, the upper chamber on Wednesday in Abuja set up an Ad Hoc Committee to that effect.
This followed the adoption of a motion on “The Worrisome State of Security in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states” sponsored by Sen. Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) during plenary.
He, however commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the fight against insurgency in the North-East with the relocation of the Armed Forces Command to Borno.
Ndume raised concerns that in 2017, the level of attack by insurgents had escalated to a worrisome level.
“In the year 2017, more than 357 civilians were killed during attacks in the North-East,
“The cases of suicide bombing in Borno and recently Mubi in Adamawa that killed 50 people and wounded several others continue to escalate,’’ he said.
Ndume said that 14.8 million people were affected by the crisis adding that the estimated cost of destruction was put at over N2.75 trillion.
“It is on record that 85 per cent of the destruction is in Borno; up to 1.8 million people are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) out of which more than 80 per cent are living in host communities,’’ he said.
Contributing, Deputy President of the Senate Mr Ike Ekweremadu said “I am worried about the situation in the North-East,
“When the matter came up last week of several killings in Adamawa, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed told the whole nation that what we are seeing in Adamawa is the last effort of the dying horse.
“It appears that Ndume disagrees with him and I disagree with him too. That is why this Senate is worried about the situation not only in the North-East but all over the country,
“Since we have set up a committee to deal with this matter we should refer his motion to the committee so that they take necessary action,” he said.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate Dr Bukola Saraki said that the matter should be one of the top priority issues to be discussed.
“Really, it should be a holistic approach to the security in the country,
“The Ad Hoc Committee on security headed by the leader should take up the matter,” Saraki said.
