By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The Senate on Tuesday said it has commenced the process adopting measures toward halting the granting of state reprieve, rehabilitation and integration of insurgents ,and other criminal elements in the country.
The Source reports that some States, including Katsina, and Borno have of recent granted pardon to banditry, and Boko Haram elements, with thousands of them purportedly rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society.
Unconfirmed reports equally indicate that most of the so-called repented insurgents have equally found their ways into the country’s security agencies, a development which has stirred no less controversies, apprehensions and widespread condemnation even among security operatives.
But at plenary on Tuesday, the Senate presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, while debating the motion raised by Katsina state Senator Abdulazeex Yar’Adua condemned the ongoing practice of granting pardon to banditry elements and terrorists.
The Senate session also expressed serious concern over the disturbing trend of abduction ,and killings of both serving and retired military personnel.
It, also, particularly faulted the purported rehabilitation and reintegration of Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents , bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements under the ongoing deradicalization and rehabilitation programmes of some state Governments.
Most of the Senators who contributed to the debate besides expressing concern over the targeting of military personnel by terrorists and bandits , blamed the constant pardoning and subsequent release of insurgents for the seemingly intractability of insecurity in the country.
The Senators warned that the trend of abducting and killing of both serving and retired military personnel, if not urgently checked, has the potential to undermine and or completely erode efforts at protecting the people ,and securing the territorial integrity of the country.
Specifically, the Senate condemned the abduction and killing of former Director of Defence Information Major -General Rabe Abubakar ,and others by suspected banditry elements.
“The death of retired Major -General Rabe Abubakar ,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 of, and persistence of insecurity confronting the nation” the Senate lamented.
According to the Senate, between 2023 and 2026, the country recorded the abduction and killings of many military personnel, including those of Major -General Richard Duru who was killed by his abductors in Owerri after the payment of $50,000 ransom, the gruesome killings of Brigadier General O M Harlord Udokwere in Abuja ,the abduction of retired Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga ,the former Director -General of the National Youths Service Corps NYSC for about 56 days ,as well as the death in captivity of retired Major Aja in Kogi state.
The Senate similarly referenced several other top military personnel who were also killed by suspected insurgents while in active service.
“The increasing frequency with which serving and retired military personnel are being targeted by criminal elements ,and terrorist groups represents a dangerous evolution in the nation’s security challenges”, the lawmakers added.
While lauding the efforts and sacrifices of security agencies in the fight against insurgency and other criminal activities, the Senate emphasized the urgent need for the Government, all relevant security agencies to scale up intelligence gathering, inter-agency collaboration, the deployment of modern technological military tools, as well as strong community engagement to effectively disrupt the activities of insurgents.
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