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By Lizzy Chirkpi
The Nigerian Senate has urged President Bola Tinubu to direct the Armed Forces to immediately recruit at least 100,000 additional personnel to strengthen the fight against rising insecurity nationwide.
The call came after Senator Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi North) raised a motion of urgent national importance, citing the recent terrorist attack in Kebbi South Senatorial District. In the incident, assailants stormed a girls’ secondary school, abducted 25 students, killed the school’s vice principal, Malami Hassan Yakubu Makuku, and seriously injured others before fleeing with the students.
Describing the attack as a “slap on the face of our nation,” Yahaya lamented that repeated assaults on schools not only endanger lives but also discourage girls from pursuing education. He recalled a similar abduction in 2022 at another government school in Kebbi, noting that it took four years to secure the victims’ release.
“This terrorism targeting students must stop,” he said, urging security agencies to track down the perpetrators without delay. He also appealed to President Tinubu to “leave no stone unturned in bringing the attackers to justice.”
In response, the Senate announced the formation of an ad hoc committee, including members of the Committee on Finance, to probe the funding, expenditure, and effectiveness of the Safe Schools Initiative. Lawmakers expressed outrage over the attack, questioning whether funds earmarked to protect learning environments had been properly utilized.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the abductions as a troubling recurrence, recalling the 2014 Chibok girls’ kidnapping on the eve of a major election. He warned that the latest attacks come at a time when the international community is closely monitoring Nigeria’s security situation.
The Senate concluded the session with a minute of silence in honour of the vice principal, who was killed while trying to protect her students