The Senate on Wednesday condemned incessant bandits’ attacks and kidnapping in Nigeria despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s spending of trillions of naira on security personnel and armoury. It described as a national disgrace the failure of the ruling APC regime to stem the rising tide of insecurity.

Particularly riled by Mr Buhari’s poor handling of the worsening and widespread violence was Adamu Aliero, an APC senator from Kebbi.

“It is indeed a national disgrace that this thing is happening on a daily basis. I remember last year alone; there was a supplementary appropriation,” Mr Aliero pointed out. 

The senator added, “We approved over N865 billion and this year’s budget, I know we have close to about N1 trillion, and we are getting little in terms of the outcome.”

Speaking on the national crisis, Senate President Ahmad Lawan explained that the repeated kidnappings and killings made it imperative for the Nigerian military to “wake up” to protect Nigerians.

“The expectation of this Senate is that there is supposed to be a remarkable difference in success in terms of the fight against insurgency, banditry, and militancy in Nigeria,” said Mr Ahmad. “When we declared the bandits as terrorists, my understanding was they are going to be dealt with ruthlessly now. I wonder whether that is the case.”

The upper chamber further demanded that Mr Buhari’s regime send fighter jets to flush out terrorists from their hideouts.

Its resolution followed a point of order raised by Bello Mandiya (APC-Katsina), who condemned widespread banditry in Katsina, the president’s home state.

Recalling a series of bandits’ attacks on communities in the Faskari local government area of Katsina, Mr Mandiya lamented the activities had brought untold hardship on the Katsina people.

Contributing, Kabir Barkiya (APC-Katsina) faulted the inability of the military to contain the situation despite several calls for it to act.

“Enough is enough. What is happening in Katsina shows that we don’t have to only condemn it, we have to do something very serious,” stated Mr Barkiya.

Also, Abdul Kwari (APC-Kaduna) admitted Mr Buhari’s claim that his regime is getting the hang of the current security crisis engulfing the nation was false.

“The issue of banditry in this country has assumed a very alarming proportion,” stressed the Kaduna senator. “Where are the Tucano fighter jets that were recently acquired by the federal government and heavily celebrated by all of us?”

The Senate president insisted that the armed forces should do better.

“The military, like some of our colleagues, have said, needs to wake up,” added Mr Lawan. “We want to see a difference because we have made a difference in terms of funding.”

(NAN)