Senate summons security chief over fresh Boko Haram attack

The Senate on Wednesday resolved to invite the country’s security chiefs, in order to investigate the latest attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion moved by Senator Ali Ndume (Borno-South) at the plenary on Wednesday entitled, ‘The Worrisome State of Security in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.”
The motion partly read, “As most of you will agree, the situation in Borno particularly, and the North-East in general, is very pathetic and worrisome. And I am sure that the public is expecting this Senate to stand up and ask questions; that is what we are supposed to do in a closed session.
“The Senate is concerned that in this year (2017), the level of attacks by the insurgents has escalated to a worrisome level. It is worried that in the year 2017, more than 357 civilians were killed during 55 attacks in the North-East. The deadliest month was in August when the militant group killed 100 people, followed by November; with 76 people killed already. Recently, three soldiers and a child were killed in Magumeri in Borno; several civilians were killed in Madagali in Adamawa; and eight soldiers were killed in Sasawa in Yobe State.
“The Senate observed that up till date, 103 Chibok girls, 10 women from Askira/Uba and lately, three employees of the University of Maiduguri remain in captivity.”
He prayed the lawmakers to “invite the service chiefs to brief the Senate on the worrisome state of security in a closed session.”
Seconding the motion, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, expressed his disagreement with the Federal Government that the recent attacks by Boko Haram were from a decimated terrorist group.
He said, “Having listened to Senator Ali Ndume, I got as worried as himself about the situation in the North-East. When the news broke last week on the several killings in Adamawa, the Minister of Information (Lai Mohammed) told the whole nation that what we were seeing in Adamawa was the last kick of a dying horse.
“It appears that Senator Ndume disagrees with him and I disagree with him too. That is why the Senate is worried about the security situation, not only in the North-East but across the country.”
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, referred the matter to the Ahmed Lawan-led security committee.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )