The Senate has urged the Federal Government to immediately halt the rehabilitation programme for repentant Boko Haram members, arguing that granting amnesty and reintegrating former insurgents is unjustifiable amid worsening attacks on military personnel and civilians across the country.
The resolution followed a heated debate on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday over the escalating insecurity in the country, particularly the recent abduction and death in captivity of retired Major General Rabe Abubakar, a former Director of Defence Information.
The call was adopted after lawmakers unanimously approved an additional prayer moved by Senator Joseph Ikpea (Edo Central) during the consideration of a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Nigerian Army, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua (Katsina Central).
Supporting the motion, former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, faulted the Federal Government’s rehabilitation policy for former Boko Haram fighters.
“It does not make even common sense to grant pardon and rehabilitate criminals,” Oshiomhole declared.
Leading the debate, Yar’Adua described the country’s deteriorating security situation as a “national emergency” requiring urgent and decisive intervention.
According to him, insecurity has assumed increasingly dangerous dimensions through terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and violent attacks that continue to claim lives and destroy livelihoods across the country.
He said the death of Abubakar in the custody of terrorists underscored the gravity of Nigeria’s security crisis.
“The death of the retired Major General and others in the custody of terrorists represents not only personal tragedies but also a painful national loss and a stark reminder of the scale and persistence of insecurity confronting the nation,” Yar’Adua said.
The senator warned that criminal groups had become increasingly emboldened, extending their attacks to serving and retired military officers, a development he said could weaken the morale of security personnel and diminish public confidence in the state’s ability to protect lives and property.
He recalled several high-profile attacks on senior military officers, including the abduction of retired Colonel Rabiu Garba Yandoto in Zamfara in 2023; the kidnap and subsequent killing of retired Major General Richard Duru in Imo despite the payment of ransom; the murder of retired Brigadier General Uwem Udokwere in Abuja in 2024; the abduction of former NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (retd.), in Katsina in 2025; the death of retired Major Joe Ajayi in kidnappers’ captivity in Kogi; and the abduction and rescue of retired Colonel Joseph Ajanaku in Plateau earlier this year.
Seconding the motion, Senator Osita Izunaso (Imo West) urged security agencies to ensure those responsible for the attacks were tracked down and prosecuted.
“The perpetrators must be arrested and brought to book,” he said.
Also contributing, Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, lamented that insecurity had made road travel unsafe even for public office holders.
“It is becoming increasingly dangerous for people, even like us that are protected by government, to move around the roads these days,” Moro said.
He cited the killing of a professor near a police checkpoint in Benue State as evidence of the worsening security situation, adding that Nigerians were now living in fear.
“We are all walking corpses if people can be killed so conveniently,” he stated.
Moro further urged the leadership of the Senate to meet President Bola Tinubu to convey lawmakers’ concerns over the worsening security situation.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) questioned why armed groups had continued to occupy parts of the country with little resistance.
“Is this country at war? If we are not at war, why are non-government bodies controlling parts of this country?” he asked.
