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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has urged the Federal Government to deploy special forces and mobilise all available security resources to flush out criminal elements hiding in forest reserves across the country.
The call followed a motion moved by Suleiman Umar Sadiq, senator representing Kwara North, who drew the attention of the Red Chamber to the gruesome killing of residents of Woro community in Kwara State in a deadly attack which left many others injured and scores displaced.
It also asked the Service Chiefs and the National Security Adviser to intensify efforts to secure the release of women and children who were abducted from Woro community.
Going further, the Red Chamber called for the immediate redesign and comprehensive clearance of forest reserves to flush out criminal elements, while encouraging the designation and conservation of portions of forests for lawful economic activities.
The Senate further urged the Federal Government and Kwara State Government to compensate displaced farmers and other victims with a view to restoring their livelihoods, and to urgently complete key road projects to improve access to farmlands and boost food production.
Contributing to the debate, Adamu Aliero stressed that the perpetrators were not acting in line with Islamic teachings, calling on the Federal Government to adopt decisive military action to end the violence.
“They are not following Islam. We must call on the Federal Government to use all available resources to flush out these bandits. We have the capacity. Let the Air Force, the Army and the forest guards move en masse and flush out these criminals. This is the only way we can have peace,” Aliero said.
He warned that failure to decisively tackle the problem, insecurity would have dire consequences for food security, noting that continued attacks on farming communities would cripple agricultural productivity.
“If we don’t flush them out, it will affect agricultural productivity,” he noted.
Similarly, the immediate past Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the Islamic community also had a critical role to play in confronting extremist narratives that fuel violence.
“The Islamic community has a role to play in this. Those who preach what is not Islam need to be dealt with by the Muslim community, because if we allow people to continue to preach what is not in the books, we will continue to have this problem,” Lawan said.
Quoting Islamic teachings, he added: “If you kill one person unjustifiably, it is like you have killed the whole world.”
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Raising concerns over the persistent nature of insecurity, Senator Abdul Ningi, while adding to the debate, faulted repeated assurances by the Senate without corresponding results, urging a comprehensive review of Nigeria’s security strategy.
“I think, as a Senate, we could do better. Mr President, you recall we have visited this matter several times. You have presided over this matter on many occasions. What is it that we are doing right and what is it that we are doing wrong? Why is it that every time it is lamentation and urging?” Ningi queried.
He recalled that discussions on insecurity had intensified as far back as 2024, questioning the level of recruitment into the security services and the quality of arms procurement.
“As far back as 2024, how many recruitments were made in our security apparatus? It has become a recurring decimal, even from our PDP days, that we don’t actually match our words with action,” he said.
Ningi also called for a critical assessment of the types of weapons being procured, the competence of recruits, and the overall capacity of the security forces.
“How do we interrogate the type of arms we are purchasing, the wherewithal, the type of people we are recruiting, their capacity?” he asked, urging the leadership of the National Assembly to explore constitutional options to engage the President more firmly on security matters.
In his contribution, Senator Saliu Mustapha who represents Kwara Central, commiserated with the Kwara State Government, the affected local government area, and the Woro community, describing the attack as “gruesome.”
“We appreciate what the Federal Government and the security agencies are doing, but we wish for this to come to an end. I hope the Federal Government will take more priority in seeing that these gruesome attacks come to an end,” he said.
On his part, Diket Plang emphasised the urgent need to strengthen forest security, noting that forest reserves had become safe havens for criminal groups.
“It is timely for us to pay more attention to our forest guards. Our forests have become an avenue for these bad people to hide themselves,” Plang said. His positionwas echoed by Aliyu Wadada who highlighted the sophistication of criminal networks, warning against underestimating their operational capacity.
“As much as they are doing and as much as we want them to do, we should know that these guys are proactive. They have intellect and intelligence gathering,” he said.
He also advocated the establishment of a naval base in Toto Local Government Area to prevent criminals from exploiting waterways for their operations. “Part of what we are experiencing today is part of spiritual unhappiness. We also need prayers,” Wadada added.
The Red Chamber observed a minute of silence in honour of those killed in the Woro attack.
