The Senate has set up an 18-member ad hoc committee to investigate the implementation of the Safe School Initiative.
The Senate has begun the process of amending the nation’s Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, as lawmakers passed the amendment bill through its first reading during today’s plenary. The bill, sponsored by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, follows resolutions reached just 24 hours earlier during a heated debate on national insecurity, where senators agreed on the need to classify kidnapping as terrorism punishable by the death penalty.
The introduction of the amendment bill marks the start of efforts to alter the legal framework and impose harsher penalties on kidnappers amid rising security concerns across the country.
Meanwhile, the Senate has established an 18-member ad hoc committee to investigate the implementation of the Safe School Initiative, with Senator Orji Kalu appointed as Chairman. Other committee members include Senators Tony Nwoye, Yemi Adaramodu, Harry Ipalibo, Ede Dafinone, Mustapha Saliu, Diket Plang, Binus Yaroe, Kaka Shehu, and Musa Garba Maidoki, among others.
The committee’s formation follows a recent resolution in which lawmakers demanded a thorough investigation into the programme. Senators questioned how funds allocated to the initiative have been used, citing continued attacks on educational institutions nationwide.
Concerns escalated after the deadly raid on the Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, where gunmen killed the vice principal and reportedly abducted 25 students. The debate that led to the committee’s creation was further driven by additional motions raised by Senator Adams Oshiomhole.
The ad hoc committee has been mandated to carry out a comprehensive investigation and present its findings to the Senate within four weeks.
This resolution comes amid heightened security concerns across the country following recent deadly attacks by bandits. Last week, gunmen attacked the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State, abducting more than 300 schoolchildren and teachers. Similar attacks and abductions were also recorded in Kwara, Kano, and Borno states.
On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency and directed additional recruitment into the Nigerian Armed Forces and the police. He authorised security agencies to use various National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps as training centres. According to him, officers withdrawn from VIP guard duties should undergo crash training to prepare them for deployment to security-challenged areas.
The President also instructed the Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately deploy all trained forest guards to flush out terrorists and bandits hiding in forests across the country.
