By Haruna Salami
The Senate on Tuesday erupted in outrage following the attack on Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, where terrorists abducted 25 female students, killed the vice-principal and injured the principal.
Moving the motion, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North) described the incident as “a heinous and unforgivable assault on the nation,” noting that the tragedy occurred on Monday at about 4 pm despite the presence of security personnel whose numbers proved inadequate to stop the attackers.
He recalled that in 2022, another secondary school in Kebbi suffered a similar attack in which it took four years before the abducted schoolgirls were eventually rescued.
“The repeated terrorism against our children and educational institutions must stop,” he said, urging the federal government and security agencies to immediately rescue the girls and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“A nation that cannot secure its children cannot claim to be fulfilling its constitutional obligations,” Senator Abdullahi stressed.
Supporting the motion, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (Borno North) said the Senate must speak with one voice against the atrocity, insisting that the primary duty of government is the protection of lives and property.
“Citizens surrender part of their sovereignty to the state under the social contract. Anything short of decisive action will erode public confidence,” he said, applauding the President for immediately directing the military to pursue the terrorists.
Senator Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East) warned that kidnapping was becoming normalized across the country.
“Our security forces operate in silos. Without joint, coordinated action, this criminality will continue. Clear timelines and targets must be set to dismantle the networks behind these attacks,” he said.
Also contributing, Senator Asuquo Ekpeyong (Cross River South) described the attack as “heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable.
“Children who go to school to build themselves and their communities are now targets. We must demand results from security agencies — backed by resources, deadlines, and consequences,” he said.
Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger East) argued that the insecurity crisis cannot be resolved without increasing military personnel.
“With a population of more than 230 million people and only 177,000 military personnel, the armed forces are overwhelmed. Communities, traditional institutions, and the public must cooperate with the government to expose criminals,” he said.
Senator Simon Lalong (Plateau South wondered what crime the girl child has done that has brought this mistreatment on her. He recalled how Boko Haram abducted 276 Chibok school girls from southern Borno in North East Nigeria in 2014.
After heated debate, the Senate adopted the following resolutions:
“Urging the federal government to recruit at least 100,000 additional military personnel to match population growth and current security demands.
“Investigating funds released for the Safe School Programme through the national budget and international donor agencies, amid concerns that the initiative has not provided adequate protection for schoolchildren.
“Setting up a joint committee drawn from Committees on Defence, Army, Navy, Finance, and Education to carry out the investigation and report back to the Senate.
In his final remarks, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio sympathized with the victims and their families, noting that Nigeria’s security agencies are stretched across vast terrain.
He urged the military and citizens with useful information to assist in securing the release of the abducted schoolgirls.
The Senate then observed a one-minute silence in honour of the slain vice-principal.
Speaking with some journalists after Tuesday plenary, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi said he didn’t think there is any question of getting external help, in his own view.
He said just about three or four days ago, in Ecuador, where they are suffering the same kind of insecurity, but “when the president came and put a referendum on some people to allow American bases to stay in order to combat crime, the people came out and rejected it”.
“No nation can just sit down and call itself a nation or a country if it cannot secure its people. Do we have to go and import people to come and secure us? If we say that we cannot secure our own people and protect our children? What are we doing here if we cannot secure our own children? What is power when you cannot secure the people? The first purpose of any government is security. It’s after you secure them that you can give them welfare.
“If you cannot secure them, there is nothing that you can do. They cannot farm, they cannot trade, they cannot go to school. This is what we are having in this country today. You can only farm if you have backyard. Even your backyard, you cannot go at night. Somebody will come and abduct you and take you out.
“What government is that? What state, what nation? If ee cannot secure our life, what are you doing? The first thing that a state or a government should do is provide you security. If we who are legislators and the people in the executive arm, we know we cannot secure the people in this country, please let us abdicate. We want orders from the president that all of us will go and retire and resign; let there be a fresh election for fresh people to come and take over”.