Suicide Bombing: Angry Lawmakers Want Security Chiefs, Defence Ministers Sanctioned

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja 

Angry members of the House of Representatives Tuesday have demanded that non-performing service chiefs and ministers of defence should be sanctioned.

The lawmakers made their views known while deliberating on a motion of urgent national importance moved at the plenary on Tuesday by Hon. Ahmed Jaha over the recent suicide bombing in Gwoza, Borno state.

Moving the motion, Jaha recalled that the bomb blast that occurred on Saturday targeted a wedding, a funeral and a hospital in coordinated attacks in Gwoza, Borno State Nigeria. 

He lamented that the  heinous act of terror resulted in the loss of more than 30 innocent lives, while also causing  immeasurable grief and suffering to the affected community with many battling with their lives at the various hospitals. 

The lawmaker noted  that the despicable nature of these attacks underscores the ongoing threat posed by terrorism in the country.

According to him, it is imperative that we, as representatives of the people, stand united in condemning such acts of violence and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the safety and security of all citizens. 

Jaha added that there was a pressing need for the security agencies to enhance their intelligence gathering capabilities and engage more effectively with local communities to prevent the recurrence of such tragic incidents in the future. 

He pointed out that intelligence gathering was a critical tool in the fight against terrorism, saying it was essential that the security forces give the necessary resources and support to gather timely and actionable intelligence to prevent attacks before they occur. 

The lawmaker was of the opinion that community engagement plays a vital role in building trust and cooperation between security forces and local residents. 

He said by fostering strong relationships with communities, the security agencies could gather valuable information, identify potential threats, and disrupt terrorist activities before they escalate into 
violence.
 

Jaha added: In addition to the 30, more than 136 people are critically injured and are receiving treatment in various hospitals in Maidugiri.

“Thirdly, I want us to know that, the suicide bombers, after identifying their faces, it was discovered that they were recruited, brainwashed, and they were imported to come to Gwoza from somewhere to cause this issue.

“They came in uniform. They were wearing the same colour of uniform. So it is a wake up call for everybody in the country. If you see this kind of thing they are more or less security threat. 

He said: “Why are our youth getting indoctrinated? They get indoctrinated because there is no hope and there is no job. Mr Speaker, you are the chairman on constitutional amendment committee, this (state police) should be expedited.”

On his part, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi said what is happening is not palatable, stressing that people that have been given the mandate should be held responsible if they fail.

“This is not the fault of the president, if we do our job very well, over sighting the security agencies,  not making them our friends, not making them our enemies.”

In his submission, Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki lamented that in the last one year that the National Assembly had been inaugurated, the security issues are one too many.

His words: “We had a jailbreak, nobody has been sacked, people are killed, nobody has been sacked. It is high time we found somebody responsible. 

“The earlier we look for a scapegoat which is justifiable. These guys have not lived up to expectations. Every single day we have a minimum of three security motions and lives are lost.

“It’s high time we come up with a resolution. We have a lot of these resolutions. I think more than 50 per cent of the resolutions of the 10th House are security related.

“So let’s find the culprit. We have our committees that are living up to expectations should they come research this. They can look at those that have not done what is expected of them and somebody should be held responsible. 

“We cannot continue to be complacent. Complacency is one of the reasons why this thing happened in my constituency.”

Contributing, the Chairman, committee on Defence, Hon. Babajimi Benson, described the bombing as heinous and barbaric.

According to him, all society strategy should be used to detect this type of action before they happen. That is why I would always suggest that the committee which you chair on constitutional review should please prioritise state police.

“The amount of men and women we have in uniform is not commensurate with the amount of men we need to have.”

The House resolved “to condemn the twin suicide bombings in Gwoza and urge our security agencies to intensify their efforts in intelligence gathering and community engagement.”