Set Up Bases Round Sambisa Forest, Senate Tells Buratai

The Nigerian Senate has asked the Chief of Army Staff, Lieut.  Gen. Tukur Buratai, to establish military command bases in Garkida and all major settlements bordering the Sambisa forest.

This came few days after Boko Haram insurgents killed two soldiers and burnt down houses, including churches, during a recent attack on Garkida – a town in Gombi Local Government of Adamawa state which shares proximity with Sambisa Forest.

The senate’s call to Buratai was part of a three-point resolution reached during Tuesday’s plenary where the upper chamber considered a motion sponsored by Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, representing Adamawa Central senatorial district.

The Red Chamber also called on the North East Development Commission to immediately embark on rehabilitation of public and religious institutions destroyed by the insurgents and provide assistance to individuals affected.

The Senate tasked the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) with urgent assessment of the extent of damage caused during the attack and provide relief materials immediately to Garkida community.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had prior to the upper chamber’s consideration of Senator Ahmed’s motion, disclosed that the Senate may consider the report of an ad hoc committee on the security challenges facing the country next week.

The committee headed by Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, had been tasked with meeting security agencies to find out what is being done about insecurity in the country and report back to the Red Chamber.

Lawan said the Senate would engage the executive arm on the resolutions of the ad hoc committee with a view to finding a lasting solution to the insecurity problem.


“The Senate discussed and debated so much on the insecurity in the country and set up an Ad-Hoc Committee under the leadership of the Senate Leader,” said the Senate President.

“The Committee is working very hard, we are trying to look for solutions to the insecurity bedevilling the country. We are not going to rest on our oars until we are able to provide solutions.

“This is the essence of our being in government. Of course, it will require that we work with the House of Representatives and the Executive, as well as the citizens because I believe that the citizens have to be taken into confidence in the fight against insecurity.

“So, we will not waste any time, as soon as the report is ready, I believe by next week, probably the report will be ready. We are going to look at the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee and take those important and very viable resolutions, and engage with the executive arm of government.

“I think we are on the same page with the executive arm of government, everybody is worried, and we will do whatever it takes, and I normally say, if we have to invest so much money, so be it, because there’s nothing more important than life, even infrastructure.

“Life is more important than anything, so we need to protect the lives of Nigerians who have sent us here,” Lawan added.

Speaking earlier, Senator Ahmed said Boko Haram’s intention was to give religious undertone to their attack on churches in Garkida community.

“As a result of this, the urgent need to take more drastic actions in the face of such affront on the national security architecture, the region and indeed the entire nation is long overdue,” she said.

“In view of the enormity of the situation, the Federal Government needs to put more innovative measures in place to frontally confront these challenges,” said the Adamawa senator.