The House of Representatives has urged the police and other security agencies to consider deploying surveillance cameras and other technologies in tracking bandits and eliminating terrorism.
The House also asked them to liaise with local vigilantes to embark on a holistic combing of forests in all part of Nigeria to forestall the hibernation and continued presence of bandits and herdsmen in their hideout.
The House also asked the police and other security agencies to consider the deployment of satellite technology using cameras to track activities of bandits.
This followed the adoption of a motion of uegent public importance sponsored by Billy Osawaru (APC, Edo) on the need to embark on a holistic combing of forests in all parts of Nigeria to forestal the hibernation and continued presence of bandits and herdsmen.
Leading the debate on the motion, Osawaru said โSections 14 (1) and (2b) as well as 17 (2b & c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) states clearly that one of the fundamental objectives of government is to provide security and welfare to its citizensโ.
According to him, Nigeria has over time been faced with the scourge of insecurity, including terrorism, banditry and militia activities leading to unfortunate killings, kidnapping, abductions, armed robbery, cattle rustling, unknown gunmen, vandalism of critical national infrastructure, which seem to have defied several strategies designed to tackle and mitigate it.
He said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its reports titled โThe Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024,โ revealed that Nigerians paid N2.23tn as ransom between May 2023 and April 2024 and also, recorded approximately 51.89 million crime incidents across Nigerian households in the period under review.
He said further that the Amotekun Corps has mobilised over 2,000 personnel to flush out bandits and other criminals operating in forests in the South-West region, and there is need for a holistic approach to extend this action to the neighboring forests of South-South region to prevent them from using the it as escape route or new found home.ย
He argued that the ugly trend of insecurity is detrimental to the growth, development and future of the nation as panic and tension continually mount on the citizens regarding their safety, while investorโs confidence are reduced, farm lands were abandoned resulting to decrease in food production, scarcity, hunger and inflation as well as displacement of large population. (TheNation)