The Nigerian Senate has expressed deep frustration over the recurring bloodshed in Benue, Borno, Plateau, and other parts of the country, declaring that lawmakers are exhausted from offering condolences while lives continue to be lost in droves.
Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, said the upper chamber is appalled by the unending cycle of violence and grieving.
‘We are tired of paying condolence visits. We are tired of mourning our people from Plateau today, Benue tomorrow, and Borno the day after’, Adaramodu said, visibly exasperated. ‘These senseless killings must stop. Enough is enough’.
The lawmaker’s remarks come in the wake of the latest carnage in Benue State, where over 100 people—including women, children, displaced persons, and security personnel—were brutally killed by yet-to-be-identified assailants.
Homes were razed, communities decimated, and survivors left traumatised.
In response, the Senate announced that a delegation of lawmakers will join President Bola Tinubu on a solidarity visit to Benue on Wednesday, in a move aimed at calming tensions and showing national support for the grieving communities.
‘The Senate will be fully represented. A retinue of senators will join the president on this important visit’, Adaramodu confirmed.
Beyond the visit, the senator stressed that the upper chamber is taking broader steps to tackle insecurity, including renewed legislative support for the nation’s security architecture and the push for a national security summit involving all critical stakeholders.
‘It’s not just about the military anymore’, he said. ‘This summit must involve everyone—security agencies, civil society groups, youths, women, the media. Nigeria cannot afford to normalise this kind of violence’.
He also noted that while some progress has been made through legislative engagement with security agencies, recent escalations in violence—particularly in the North Central and North East—have cast a shadow over any perceived gains.
‘No one can deny that our engagements have yielded some results’, Adaramodu said, ‘but the sporadic and increasingly deadly nature of these attacks, especially in Benue, Plateau, and Borno, must be addressed with urgency and resolve’.
