The House of Representatives, on Thursday, concluded its three-day special session on worsening security situation, with lawmakers calling for full local government autonomy, stronger border control, community policing, and the establishment of forest guards as part of a comprehensive strategy to address terrorism, kidnapping, and other violent crimes.
The special session, convened on Tuesday in response to the surge in attacks and abductions across several states, culminated on Thursday with members assessing the security landscape and proposing measures to restore stability.
Contributing to the debate, the member representing Enugu North/South Federal Constituency, Chimaobi Atu, argued that granting full autonomy to local governments and reclaiming ungoverned territories from criminal groups would significantly enhance security.
He maintained that autonomous councils would be better positioned to manage security concerns in their communities and ensure effective policing.
‘One of the biggest reasons for insecurity in Nigeria is the huge number of ungoverned spaces in the country. This allows criminal elements to operate freely. With full and comprehensive local government autonomy, local council chairmen and councillors could pay closer attention to what is happening in their immediate wards, communities, and local governments’, Atu said.
He added that credible local government elections and financial independence for the 774 councils would enable them to fund local security outfits to complement state policing efforts.
‘To guarantee this arrangement, elections into the 774 local councils must be conducted by a federal body in a transparent manner to allow the best candidates trusted by those at the grassroots to emerge. They must also be financially independent of their respective state governments. This way, their finances could be used to fund local government security outfits. This will complement the efforts of state police, which is long overdue’, he said.
Atu also emphasised the need to secure Nigeria’s forests, many of which he said are either unknown to locals or uncontrolled by authorities.
‘Part of the challenges we have as a nation is that significant portions of our forests are unknown to the locals or are not governed by the respective local authorities. Therefore, there is a need to properly train and fund local government, state, and federal Forest Guard formations. Let me add that these formations must be adequately armed to have superior or proportional weapon to fight criminals’, he stated.
He insisted that ‘security is local and cannot be dealt with using a federal approach alone’ adding that concerns about abuse of state or local policing powers could be addressed by establishing strong oversight protocols.
‘The United States policing system is a model we can adopt and modify to suit our peculiar challenges’, Atu noted.
Dabo Haruna, representing Toro Federal Constituency in Bauchi State, urged the Federal Government to reinforce national security architecture and make border protection a priority, while embracing technology in crime fighting.
He said, ‘My suggestion, one, is strengthen security architecture, community policing, and local security. Address root causes of insecurity, border security, and arms control. Justice system reform, technology-driven security approaches, support for victims and affected communities’.
Billy Osawaru, representing Uhunwonde/Orhiomwon Federal Constituency in Edo State, praised President Bola Tinubu for declaring a national security emergency and directing defence and intelligence agencies to recruit more personnel and deploy them strategically.
He said, ‘We have to quickly activate our forest guards and intelligence sharing hubs. The DSS and military to track and neutralise armed groups in remote areas. Fast track the counter-terrorism strategic plan of 2025 to 2030. To improve intelligence coordination, law enforcement, collaboration, and community engagement’.
Osawaru also urged the House to ensure that reports on security-related motions referred to committees are processed quickly and returned to the floor for necessary legislative action.
Presiding over Thursday’s plenary, the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, said President Tinubu’s declaration of a security emergency demonstrates that the House’s deliberations are influencing executive action.
‘I want to let you know that the conversation you are having in this sacred chamber is not falling on deaf ears. Steps have been activated stimulated by the conversation we are having in this room’, Kalu told lawmakers.
