Insecurity: Gbajabiamila Calls For Constitutional Amendment, Declares ‘Our Cup Of Endurance Has Run Over’
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has called on both the majority and minority leaders of the house to propose to the chamber appropriate amendments to the constitution that will ensure interventions to protect the life and property of Nigerians.
Gbajabiamila made the call during Wednesday’s plenary against the backdrop of the rising insecurity, including banditry, kidnapping and Boko Haram killings in the country.
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In a series of tweets on the house twitter handle @HouseNGR, the speaker noted that the house is no longer willing to labour under the dark clouds of random violence inflicted on Nigerians by “Faceless cowards. We have witnessed across the country, a recognisable uptick in crime, manifested through the activities of bandits destroying communities, kidnappers operating for profit.”
According to him: “Our cup of endurance has run over. Recently, the Governors of Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ondo states took action to implement a regional security network to support the efforts of the Nigeria Police in preventing crime and protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.”
The speaker who noted that the establishment may not be the ultimate solution to the insecurity, added that the localised manifestations of insecurity across the different parts of our country call for unique and localised approaches that take those peculiarities into account.
While lamenting the gaps and weaknesses which continue to exist in the national security infrastructure which makes the people more susceptible to brutal violence, the said the green chambers will shortly take action to bring loopholes before those agencies of national security to whom “our constitution and other legislation have granted the powers and the resources to ensure the safety and security of all our people.”
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The speaker further proposed that the house dedicates a special plenary session with nothing else on paper, save to consider the issue of Nigeria’s millions of school children, with a special focus on the fate of Almajiri children in Nigeria.
He “Everywhere you go in the big cities of Nigeria, we now have on our streets, legions of children begging for alms from sun up till last dusk, they are at risk of exploitation, vulnerable to recruitment by human traffickers, criminals and insurgents.
“This will be an open session and all members are enjoined to develop proposals for consideration, for debate and adoption by the House.”
The speaker added that the house will extend invitations to various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government.
