The House of Representatives Committee on Internal Security has disclosed that terrorists have threatened to bomb the National Assembly. Chairman of the Committee on Internal Security of the National Assembly, Garba Muhammad, said this during a public hearing yesterday.
The hearing was organised to consider a bill seeking to establish the Legislative Security Directorate in the National Assembly, which will outline the qualifications and conditions of service for the sergeant-at-arms and other personnel.
“Security is very crucial to all arms of government, especially to the legislative arm because it is an institution where legislators, staff, executive, judiciary, individuals, organisations, protesters, demonstrators, and many more troop into on a daily basis in their droves to pursue one thing or the other,” he said.
“Due to this daily massive influx of people into the parliament, criminals seek and attempt to take advantage of the situation to infiltrate, in order to conduct their dubious behaviours.
“The National Assembly is going through a lot of security challenges. We have experienced car thefts, motorcycle thefts, vandalism, fake Identity cards, and unwanted visitors accessing the national assembly without proper documentation, as well as petty trading, which gives the national assembly a small market appearance.
“We have received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly Complex and threats from protesters to lockup the National Assembly. “Legislators are exposed to threats from constituents and others who gained easy access to their offices without any formal appointment
“It is obvious that with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, will truncate the legislative activities in the national assembly and if activities are thwarted, there will be no representation, no oversight, no annual budget, there will be no Plenary at all, and that will destabilise legislative procedure, democracy and the stability of the system, and our nation at large.” The committee chairman said the bill seeks to address all the challenges facing the National Assembly and adopt the world’s best practices of parliamentary security procedures and architecture.
Muhammad asked the state house of assemblies to implement the same security . But the Nigeria Police, however, cautioned against the establishment of the Directorate Making his presentation, the Inspector General of Police, (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, cautioned that creating a separate Directorate might lead to overlapping mandates and a “Parallel administrative function.”
Represented by AIG Emmanuel Aina, the IGP said: “While the intent to strengthen security in the National Assembly is commendable, establishing a new Directorate could undermine existing collaborative arrangements among security agencies already performing these functions effectively.” Similarly, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) supported the bill in principle but expressed reservations about certain clauses.
Likewise, the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), represented by its President, Comrade Mohammed, declared its “total support” for the proposed Directorate.
Responding to concerns raised by some stakeholders over whether the Directorate’s personnel would be authorised to bear arms, the Sergeant-At-Arms of the National Assembly clarified that only trained and legally authorised officers would handle arms.
