Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, has condemned the abduction of 87 students and teachers in separate attacks in Oyo State and Borno State, describing the incidents as a direct assault on Nigeria’s future.
Bamidele, who also serves as vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the attacks further underscored the urgency of establishing state police as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s security architecture.
In a statement issued on Sunday through his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, the Senate leader called for coordinated and strategic action to secure schools nationwide and address the growing number of out-of-school children across the country.
He said the 10th National Assembly was already at an advanced stage in the process of amending the 1999 Constitution to allow for the creation of state police.
According to him, the constitutional amendment process would soon be concluded at the National Assembly before being transmitted to state legislatures for ratification.
Bamidele explained that the proposal would require approval by at least two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly before state police could become operational.
The Senate leader appealed to governors and lawmakers at the subnational level to treat the proposal as a matter of national security rather than partisan or ethnic interests.
He noted that while the state police framework was being finalised, both federal and state governments should urgently strengthen the Safe School Initiative to reduce insecurity in schools and tackle the alarming number of out-of-school children, currently estimated at 18.3 million nationwide.
Describing the repeated abduction of students and teachers as a “tragic national concern”, Bamidele said the trend was undermining Nigeria’s development goals and must be decisively addressed.
“We cannot and must not allow it to continue. At the National Assembly, we will rise against this trend and put an end to it through the instrumentality of legislation,” he stated.
He added that lawmakers would prioritise pending security-related bills once plenary sessions resume on June 2.
Among the measures under consideration, he said, were the constitutional amendment seeking the establishment of state police and proposed amendments to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 aimed at strengthening the justice system and discouraging violent crimes.
The condemnation followed Friday’s abduction of 45 pupils, students and teachers during coordinated attacks on Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School and L.A. Primary School in Esiele, all located in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Within the same period, suspected Boko Haram insurgents reportedly attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, abducting 42 students.
