The House of Representatives has inaugurated an Ad-hoc Committee to review the purchases of hardware, arms, and ammunition by the military, paramilitary, and other security agencies in the country with a view to tackling the security challenges facing Nigeria.
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, in his inaugural speech upon the resumption of the House lamented that the spate of insecurity in the country is alarming and warned that citizens may be resorting to self-help in the face of insecurity, notably banditry and kidnapping if the government fails to tackle the menace.
The House had repeatedly passed Motions calling for an overhaul of the Nation’s security architecture and a rejig of the headship of the security and paramilitary agencies in order to address the issue.
However, still faced with the same issue of senseless killings particularly the killing of 25 villagers in Kaduna State despite the appointment of new Service Chiefs, the House says it is set to review the purchases of hardware by these security agencies.
At the inauguration of the Ad-hoc Committee, the House Speaker charged the Committee to undertake a holistic review of all the hardware, arms, and ammunition purchased by the military and paramilitary agencies in the ongoing war against insurgency in the North-East.
The House had earlier in December 2020 passed a motion sponsored by Ibrahim Al-Mustapha Aliyu which called for a review of all the arms purchase done by the military and paramilitary agencies in the war against insurgency and other Crimes
Almustapha complained that Nigeria has the least annual budget in the the annual budgetary provisions of the security agencies globally.
Chairman of the Committee, Olaide Akinremi in his remark also called on these security agencies to ensure maximum cooperation in sharing information and other tools of warfare in order to tackle the challenge.
He also urged the heads of these security agencies and their lieutenants to volunteer valuable information to the committee on arms purchase to aid the Committee’s investigations.
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At the event, the newly appointed Service Chiefs notably Chief of Army Staff were represented by Brig-Gen A. Ali, Chief of Naval Staff Rear Adm D. M Dogonyaro while the National Security Adviser was represented by Commodore A. B Kayode.
Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe
