The House of Representatives has summoned the Service Chiefs and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy to appear before the chamber and render a detailed account of funds released to the military, as lawmakers expressed alarm over the worsening security situation across Nigeria despite billions of naira in annual defence allocations.
The resolution, passed on Tuesday, followed the adoption of motions addressing the escalating wave of banditry, kidnappings, and attacks on communities, schools, and places of worship — particularly in the North-West.
Members of the House voiced frustration that despite substantial resources committed to security operations over the years, bandits and kidnappers continued to operate with apparent impunity, carrying out deadly attacks and mass abductions across multiple states.
Leading the debate, Ibe Osonwa (Abia, LP) warned that the trend was deepening Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis, as thousands of pupils had been forced out of classrooms by fear of attacks while families continued to grapple with the trauma of abductions. He described the current security response as largely reactive and inadequate, and invoked Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates the Federal Government to protect the lives and welfare of citizens.
Osonwa condemned the systematic targeting of schools and places of worship by criminal elements, warning that institutions historically regarded as safe havens had increasingly become soft targets for terrorists and kidnappers.
Contributing through a separate motion on recurring attacks in Zamfara and other North-West states, Sulaiman Gumi (APC, Zamfara) described the security situation in the region as a full-blown humanitarian crisis. He cited the recent abduction of seven students of Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, and the continued captivity of two senior lecturers of the institution despite ransom payments, as evidence of the deteriorating conditions.
The House consequently resolved to invite the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, and other relevant security chiefs, alongside the Finance Minister, to brief lawmakers on the exact amounts appropriated and released for security operations and to explain the impact of that expenditure on the fight against insecurity.
Lawmakers said the appearance would give Nigerians clarity on how security funds had been utilised and why results had remained elusive.
House Urges Tinubu to Deploy Comprehensive Anti-Banditry Strategy
The House also called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately deploy a comprehensive and aggressive security strategy to flush out bandits and kidnappers from their hideouts, restore safety across the country, and secure the release of citizens still held captive by criminal groups.
Members further urged the Minister of Defence to deploy additional troops and operational equipment to Zamfara and other affected North-West states to reinforce ongoing military operations.
In its resolutions, the House condemned in the strongest terms the continued banditry, mass abductions, and attacks on schools and churches across Nigeria, and resolved to transmit an urgent appeal to the President as Commander-in-Chief, reminding him of his constitutional oath to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.
The chamber also called for non-kinetic approaches to tackling insecurity, urging the ministries of agriculture, education, environment, and humanitarian affairs to introduce programmes targeting the socio-economic conditions that fuel criminality.
The committees on defence, national security and intelligence, and the army were mandated to oversee implementation of the resolutions and report back within two weeks.
In a strongly worded warning, lawmakers stressed that the persistence of insecurity despite massive security spending raised serious questions about accountability and effectiveness within the nation’s security architecture, and that Nigerians deserved a full reckoning of how public funds had been spent.
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