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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has called on security agencies to intensify surveillance and apprehend bandits and terrorists openly displaying their activities on social media platforms, as lawmakers warned that criminal elements are increasingly using digital spaces to taunt the Nigerian state and glorify violence.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Sunday Steve Karimi on the escalating wave of terrorist attacks, killings and mass abductions in parts of Kogi State and across the country.
The Senate also urged the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen cashless policy enforcement to disrupt ransom-based kidnapping financing.
In addition, the Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian Immigration Service to tighten border security to prevent infiltration of arms and movement of armed groups.
It further advised state governments to stop entering into negotiations or peace accords with armed groups, warning that such arrangements often collapse and embolden criminal activity, and invited the Commander of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) to brief lawmakers on the growing proliferation of illegal arms across the country.
Raising the concern during deliberations on Thursday, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan urged the Nigerian Police Force National Cybercrime Centre and other relevant security agencies to urgently track, identify and arrest individuals who openly showcase criminal activities online.
She expressed alarm that criminal networks had become emboldened, using platforms such as TikTok to circulate images and videos of illicit operations, including the public display of money allegedly obtained through kidnappings and other violent crimes.
“Bandits and terrorists who carry out these activities live on their social media handles. Two days ago on TikTok, bandits conducted a giveaway, distributing over ₦100 million within 30 minutes through their social media handles,” she told the chamber.
Natasha questioned the inability of security agencies to exploit such digital footprints, insisting that modern policing must adapt to the realities of online visibility.
“I wonder why the Cybercrime Unit and the Police Force generally cannot track these activities and apprehend them since they are on social media,” she added, urging immediate action by the National Cybercrime Centre.
Her submission received wide support and was formally seconded by Osita Ngwu, leading to its adoption as part of the Senate’s resolutions.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, responding to the development, described the public display of criminal proceeds and activities online as a direct challenge to the authority of the Nigerian state.
He stressed that security agencies must treat the trend as a serious national security threat requiring urgent and coordinated action across intelligence services.
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“The Department of State Services should be able to track their movements and arrest them because this is a show of impunity, as if there is no law at all,” Akpabio said.
He further warned that the use of social media to flaunt cash and criminal exploits was an attempt to ridicule government authority and undermine public confidence in security institutions.
“I do not see why we should not have control over the social media space. That idea of showing themselves, showing the cash collected and displaying it is a way of challenging government,” he added.
Akpabio directed all security and intelligence agencies to intensify monitoring of digital platforms and ensure that perpetrators are identified, arrested and prosecuted.
He also emphasised the need for feedback mechanisms to reassure Nigerians that arrests are being made and justice is being served.
“If they are apprehended, they should also report back so that Nigerians can know that those who openly show their faces while committing crimes are being arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
The Senate President further urged security agencies to regard the situation as part of a broader national security emergency requiring sustained intelligence coordination.
Karimi had earlier raised the alarm over Kogi West attacks, informing the Senate that Iluke-Bunna in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area was attacked on 10 June 2026 when terrorists invaded a secondary school during the SSCE examinations, attempting to abduct students.
He said the Vice Principal, a teacher and an indigene were killed in the attack, which came just two days after another assault in Odo-Ere, Yagba West, on 8 June 2026.
He further disclosed that communities across the Bunu and Kupa axis had become heavily targeted, forcing residents in places such as Aiyetoro Kiri and Odai to flee their homes due to repeated attacks.
According to him, “In Odai Bunu, two wives and three children of the traditional ruler were abducted. In Iluke Bunu, a doctor, his wife and children were kidnapped.”
Karimi also raised concern over the abduction of 30 persons in Aiyegunle Bunu, noting that victims were still being held in forest hideouts, while families continued to suffer psychological trauma.
He added that major highways, including the Lokoja–Obajana road, had become frequent targets for kidnappers, alongside growing insecurity in Oworo land, Ogbabon, Oyo, Jakura, Kupa, Kakanda and Kotonkarfe communities.
Lawmakers also referenced a similar attack on a secondary school in Suleja, Niger State, on 10 June, where students writing examinations were abducted, describing it as part of a disturbing pattern of attacks on educational institutions.
