We must go outside budget for funds to tackle insecurity- Senate

•Says Senate President, as Reps task police, others to rescue kidnapped judge

•Navy urged to set up base in Ogun community to check kidnappings

By Henry Umoru, Levinus Nwabughiogu & Alemma Aliu

Senate

THE Senate said, yesterday, that there was urgent need to look outside annual budgetary allocation, if the spate of kidnapping, armed banditry and insurgency in the country must come to an end.

This came on a day the House of Representatives at plenary, mandated the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies in the country to immediately rescue kidnapped Justice Chioma Iheme-Nwosu from the den of kidnappers.

This is even as lawyers in Edo State remained divided yesterday over the boycott called by the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, in protest against the judge’s kidnap.

The Senate also urged the Nigerian Navy to establish a naval base in Makun-Omi, Ogun State, to tackle increasing kidnapping of residents in the state, and urged the Federal Government to direct the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to step up security in the affected communities in the state.

The Senate also asked the Federal Government to make available helicopters to help tackle the menace of kidnapping and other criminal activities.

Speaking after deliberations on a motion by Senator Olalekan Mustapha (APC, Ogun East), on the rising wave of kidnapping in riverine areas of Ogun State, President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, disclosed that he had been involved in meetings with heads of security agencies on how best to mitigate insecurity in the country.

He said they came to the conclusion that what was required was improved funding to solve the nation’s security problems.

Lawan, who noted that there was the urgent need to ensure adequate security to promote and attract investment and investors in the country, said there was also need to evolve other means of raising funds to fight insecurity.

According to him, the executive arm of government is committed to tackling the security challenge in the country.

Call for drones

While calling for the provision of drones to track down perpetrators of crimes in the country, the Senate President said: “Let me share my experience. 

In the last one month or so, I have been holding regular meetings with security agencies — the DG, NIA; DG, DSS; IG of Police; the NSA, Ministers of Communication and FCT and a host of others.

“What we are trying to do is to get a better and more appropriate and result-oriented approach to fighting kidnapping and the insecurity we face. I have said it here that no amount of resources would be too much for combating insecurity because we need to secure our people, we need to secure this country.

“It would remain a pipe dream if we continue to ask people to come to Nigeria to invest when actually those inside the country may not invest properly if the security situation remains very dicey.

“This is something we have to do together with the executive arm of government and, in fact, I was looking for something out of the ordinary for funding because I’m not sure we would be able to deal with this problem at present, considering our fund allocation in the budget

“So we have to go out of our way to look for resources outside national annual budget. If we can give say N600 or N700 billion to this urgent cause, nothing stops us from looking for the same or more money to put in and address the security situation in the country.

“This is because everybody and everything depends on good security, so we would work hard to make sure we are able to deal with this and there is willingness and commitment from the side of the executive on this.

“In fact, we have already given the request for the NSA to come up with the different designs and models of drones. We thought there should be drones all over the place properly deployed, to ensure that kidnapping is arrested.

“When they (kidnappers) kidnap, they negotiate, they use telephones and that is why we have the Minister of Communications. We have to find a way to track this menace.

“Two weeks ago, we should have launched the national emergency centre with specific numbers and now we have tried to reconcile all the security agencies to have only one number 122, 112, 199 and the rest of it.

“We have arrived at a single number and we have launched the national emergency number but some of them traveled, so we postponed it. 

We want the national emergency centre established across the country. Already, we have two major ones but we want more to be established, so we look for resources to deal with this.”

‘Many citizens have fled their homes’

While presenting the motion earlier at plenary, Senator Mustapha noted that 11 persons had been kidnapped between August 11 and October in the area, adding that following the spate of kidnapping and other criminal activities in the area, many citizens have fled the zone for fear of being kidnapped.

He said the activities of kidnappers had caused untold hardship for people of Ogun.

In his contribution, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC, Ogun Central), said kidnapping in Ogun East should be a concern to all, even as he said that the issue was beyond the police..

He added that the act had resulted in the relocation of some residents of the area.

Also contributing, Senator James Manager (PDP, Delta South), said the motion and prayers were not only for Ogun State but for the entire country,

He said the Niger Delta was also not free of the challenge, and called for support for the motion.

Reps task Police on kidnapped judge

In a similar development, the House of Representatives yesterday at plenary, mandated the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies in the country to immediately rescue kidnapped Justice Chioma Iheme Nwosu from the den of kidnappers.

It will be recalled that Justice Nwosu, who is a judge of the Court of Appeal, Benin, Edo State division was recently abducted by kidnappers, and is yet to regain her freedom days after.

In a motion moved by Onofiok Luke from Akwa Ibom State under matters of urgent public importance, the House called on the security agencies to ensure her immediate release.

Leading the debate on the motion, titled: “Urgent Need for Security Agencies to Ensure the Release of Hon. Justice Chioma Nwosu and Increase Security and Protection Around Judicial Officers Across Nigeria”, Luke recalled the abduction of Justice Abdul Dogo of the Federal High Court in Akure, Ondo State, saying security should be beefed around judicial officers and their families.

He said, among others: “The House notes that judicial officers are charged with fundamental responsibility of interpreting laws, adjudicating and resolving disputes, conflicts and controversies between persons (natural or artificial).

“It further notes that the responsibility involves presiding over serious criminal matters and politically charged cases; convicting and passing sentences on hard criminals, including drug dealers, kidnappers and murderers;

“The House is aware that the exercise of this responsibility by judicial officers helps to maintain and preserve stability, peace and equity in the polity and protect and safeguard the rights of citizens

“Conscious of the risks and dangers associated with performance of judicial responsibility on the lives of judicial officers and their families, and the necessity for judicial officers to be provided a safe, comfortable and conducive environment to operate.”

Contributing to the debate, some members of the House asked the police and other security agencies to live up to their billings.

In his contribution, Chinyere Igwe from Rivers State said: “I call on the security agencies to live up to their responsibility. The kidnap of Justice Chioma is totally condemnable.

Ali Lawal Shetima from Yobe State in his contribution, said: “We have to find a very reasonable way of tackling this.”

In his own contribution, Yusuf Gagfi from Plateau State said: “Kidnapping and insecurity have been major cause of concerns in the country. It is high time the security agencies came up with a strategy. The approach used by the security agencies is not yielding result and that’s why they need to review their strategy.”

Adopting the motion, the House urged the police and other security agencies to ensure the apprehension and prosecution of the judge’s kidnappers.

Kidnapped judge: Partial compliance with court boycott

Meanwhile, several courts in the Benin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and some other branches of the body did not have full compliments of lawyers yesterday as a result of the three-day boycott of courts embarked upon by lawyers to protest the kidnap of a justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Nkechi Nwosu-Iheme who has spent seven days in the kidnappers’ den.

Some courts only delivered judgments, while others took adjournments for cases already listed for hearing.

But there was no compliance by members of Igarra branch of the NBA as the members said the Benin branch did not carry them along in the decision to boycott the courts, though they lauded the idea.

Chairman of Igarra branch of the NBA, Samuel Amune, told Vanguard yesterday that the Benin branch only sent its decision to it as if it was subservient whereas, according to him, all the branches are autonomous.

But the chairman of the task force set up by the Benin branch to ensure compliance, Barrister Douglas Ogbankwa, said the compliance level in the state was 100 percent.

Ogbangwa, who is also the Publicity Secretary of the Benin branch, said there was a directive to all its members across the 18 local government areas of Edo on the boycott

“Some states are also here in solidarity with us.

 

The National Publicity Secretary of the NBA, Mr Habib Lawal, and the immediate past chairman of Ikeja Branch, Mr Adesina Ogunlana, are here with us in solidarity.

“For the fact that they (lawyers) did not disobey our directive, showed their solidarity with us in protest against the level of insecurity across Edo State. 

This action will, however, continue until Friday, as such, we seek their cooperation,” he said.