We are having sleepless nights over Nigeria’s security situation – Reps

The House of Representatives has said that the cries of victims of insecurity in the country are giving it sleepless nights, noting that urgent legislative measures were needed to stem the tide.

The chairman House committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep. Benjamin Kalu(APC, Abia), who spoke at a press briefing on Tuesday also disclosed that the House would henceforth take steps aimed at changing the negative narrative about it in particular, and the National Assembly in general.

He said: “We’re going to look at what pains you and pains us, that is insecurity that is in the land. The insecurity in the land is much. It is alarming. We can no longer paint it with beautiful colours, we can no longer discuss about it in low tunes”.

“The cries of the people that have lost their lives are giving us sleepless nights. And something needs to be done about it. So this 9th Assembly is going to look at the various legislative interventions with regards to the insecurity in the land to ensure that Nigerians are safe, better than they have been in recent years.


“Because that is the core mandate of every government, to protect lives and property. If you don’t protect lives, then who are we structuring our government for?”, Kalu queried.

He noted further saying that the dimension of introducing the police into the fight against internal terrorism was a step in the right direction, just as he acknowledged the strength and capacity of the nation’s police force to effectively tackle internal security challenges.

“You and I are both aware of what is happening with the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East and the recently proposed introduction of the police into the fight against it.

“And as you are aware, it is the responsibility of the police to take care of internal security. So its not a wrong decision for them to be called upon to play this role that the constitution gave them mandate to play.

“Now, there is this doubt, this aspersion against the police that will they be able to do it or not? The recent report we are getting has also shown that the police is capable of handling our internal security.

“There are some success stories coming from what they are doing at the moment and so we are going to use legislative interventions to support them in that regard.

“And not only that, all other players within the armed forces, we will make sure that the people are motivated the more to serve Nigeria and to protect Nigerians better,” Kalu added.