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– Urges FG to recruit additional 100,000 officers into Armed Forces
– Resolves to probe Safe School Initiative
– Adjourns plenary to Tuesday to attend zonal security summits
– Observes minute’s silence for slain vice-principal, Brig. Gen. M. Uba and other slain officers
From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Lawmakers on Tuesday condemned the abduction of 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, while demanding their immediate rescue.
The attack, carried out by terrorists around 4 p.m. on Monday, 17 November 2025, also claimed the life of the school’s vice-principal and left the principal critically injured.
The Senate also urged the Federal Government to recruit at least 100,000 officers into the Nigerian Armed Forces to boost the security of the country, just as it resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to probe the utilisation of funds generated for the Safe Schools Initiative, which is domiciled at the Ministry of Finance.
Leading the motion, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North) described the incident as “a slap in the face of our nation,” lamenting that despite a police presence, security at the school was grossly inadequate when the armed men stormed the premises.
Abdullahi said, “This atrocious act is a painful reminder of our recurring nightmare. In 2022, similar attacks occurred in Kebbi, and it took four years, four long years to recover the abducted girls. How many more children must suffer before this ends?”
He pressed the federal government and security agencies to launch an immediate rescue mission, while calling for a minute of silence in honour of the slain vice-principal of the school. Going further, Abdullahi warned that continued assaults on schools were eroding public trust in the education system, saying, “A nation that cannot secure its children cannot claim to fulfil its obligations to its citizens.”
Contributing to the debate on the motion, Mohammed Tahir Monguno reinforced the urgency of the moment, arguing that a government must not fail in its fundamental duty to protect citizens.
“Under the social contract, people surrender their sovereignty expecting safety in return,” he stressed, while commending President Bola Tinubu for directing the military to pursue the attackers and rescue the girls.
He insisted that the Senate must “speak with one voice” and back the rescue operation fully as “anything less will damage public confidence and further discourage school enrolment.”
On his part, Francis Fadahunsi cautioned that Nigeria risked normalising kidnapping if urgent reforms were not pursued while pointing to poor coordination among the security agencies as a major setback.
“The army, air force, and police appear to operate in silos,” he said. “This must end. We need collective action; clear targets, timelines, discipline and accountability.”
Similarly, Asuquo Ekpenyong, who described the incident as “heartbreaking and gut-wrenching,” lamented that schoolchildren were no longer safe in Nigeria, even in classrooms.
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“The Senate must set clear ultimatums and consequences for failure. We must demand decisive action and give security agencies every resource needed to protect our children,” he said.
Asking for targeted efforts to stop the incident from recurring, Mohammed Sani Musa argued that Nigeria’s security crisis required an all-of-society response, noting that the armed forces were overstretched.
“With over 230 million people and only 177,000 military personnel, it is impossible to secure every community.
“Traditional rulers, communities, and individuals must help identify and expose criminals. Motions without action have brought us to this point,” he stated.
In his submission, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole moved that the Senate should urge the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to direct the Nigerian Army to recruit at least an additional 100,000 men and women, fully trained and equipped, to cope with the exponential increase in our population and the rising security challenges.
He added that the Senate should mandate its Committees on Defence, Navy, and Army to investigate funds appropriated through the national budget and donor agencies such as the World Bank for the Safe School Programme, and report back to the Senate. Both motions were adopted.
The senators also resolved to establish an ad hoc committee made up of the relevant committees, including Finance, Education, Defence, Army, and Navy, to investigate the Safe School Programme, including funding, expenditure, and the reasons for its failure to secure our schools.
In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio conveyed the sympathies of the Red Chamber to the families of the victims — the vice-principal who was killed and the schoolchildren now in captivity. He urged the Armed Forces and all Nigerians with useful information to assist in securing the release of the kidnapped schoolgirls.
He said, “Nigeria is a large nation of 36 states and the FCT. Our security agencies are overstretched. Even during elections we cannot post one policeman per polling unit. Terrorists often strike in locations that are difficult to predict.
“No country is free of crime, not even the United States. But our responsibility is to make laws, pass motions, and take decisions that reduce crime to the barest minimum. Crime is crime; it does not belong to any administration.
“We urge the Armed Forces and all Nigerians with useful information to assist in securing the release of these children and ensuring justice for the victims.”
The lawmakers later held a minute’s silence for the slain vice-principal, the slain Brig. Gen. M. Uba, who was killed by ISWAP in Borno State, and other officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
They thereafter entered into an executive session and afterwards announced that plenary had been postponed till next Tuesday to enable senators to attend zonal security meetings.
