Senate Reschedules Debate On Possible Outbreak of Ethno-Religious War In Nigeria

The Senate has rescheduled an earlier planned debate to urgently address the growing spate of insecurity which the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly believes might lead to tribal and religious war among groups in the country.

The Red Chamber also said that clashes between ethnic groups across Nigeria might lead to famine and myriad of issues.

The Senate while listing its legislative agenda upon resumption, entertained a motion by Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Robert Ajayi Borroficce marshalling out a seven point motion in which the Upper Chamber expressed fears that the country has entered a chapter of its national life which is characterized by unabated terrorism, insurgency, banditry and kidnappings.

Debate on the motion was however stood down in honour of a member of the House of Representatives, Chinedu Prestige who died in a hospital in Germany.

The motion as contained in the Order Paper of Senate frowned at the practice of ejecting any Nigerian from any part of the country.

“Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is sacrosanct, as every citizen of Nigeria has the right to live and aquire property in any part of the country” The motion insisted.

In the scheduled motion, the Senate expressed fears that “if the present spate of insecurity across the nation is not curtailed , it will lead to food insecurity and famine as many farmers can no longer access their farmlands”.

Going forward, the motion urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the National Security Adviser and the Newly nominated Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police to devise a proposal to rejig the nation’s security architecture and disposition of forces for more effective counter measures against the current security challenges, particularly in the rural areas

It also urged the state governors to re-invigorate rural governance and convene a state-wide intercommunal conclaves and dialogues to promote local conflict resolution and inter-ethnic harmony;

According to the motion, the Federal Government should immediately embark on an operation to checkmate proliferation of firearms and enforce the laws against illegal possession of firearms by arresting, disarming and punishing anyone in illegal possession of arms;

It equally asked the State Governors to implement the National Livestock Transformation Plan which is a modern scheme designed to eliminate open grazing in order to prevent farmer-herder conflicts and activate highly productive livestock sector in Nigeria;

“the Security Agencies must actively deploy drones and helicopters to monitor forests and ungoverned areas in Nigeria, to identify illegal camps of armed bandits” the motion said.

It also made the case that the Federal Government should adequately equip the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to police and monitor our borders using technology to check illegal immigrants, and checkmate smuggling of fire arms and light weapon; and

” And the Federal Government must resuscitate and inaugurate the National Task Force (Commission) to combat the proliferation of Light Weapons, Small Arms and Amunition” it added