From Ndubuisi Orji and Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
House of Representatives, yesterday directed the Inspector General of Police ( IGP), Ibrahim Idris, the Director General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Lawal Daura and the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Abdullahi Muhammadu to deploy more personnel to Aba, Abia State to enhance security in the city.
The House also mandated its committees on Police Affairs and National Security and Intelligence to investigate the spate of killings and kidnappings in Aba.
The committees are expected to report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative actions.
This was sequel to a motion moved by Prestige Ossy at yesterday’s plenary.
Leading debate on the motion, Ossy said the entire security structure in Aba had collapsed, leaving residents of the commercial city at the mercy of kidnappers, ritualists and other criminals.
The legislator lamented that despite the presence of security agencies in Aba, the activities of kidnappers and other daredevil criminals in the commercial city have been on the increase recently.
While calling on the House to come to the rescue of the people of Aba, the lawmaker said in recent time, several persons have either been kidnapped or killed by the criminals.
The lawmaker recalled that on February 27 this year, eight members of the Abia State Vigilance Group were murdered in cold blood by suspected bandits, who ambushed them along Aba -Owerri Road.
“No one is sure of his or her security. They operate everyday. In the morning, afternoon and night,” Ossy told the legislative house.
Contributing to the motion, Chika Adamu described the security situation in Aba as alarming and called on the government to rise to the challenge.
Adamu said if the ugly security situation in Aba, which he described as Nigeria’s commercial hub, was not checked, it would affect the country’s quest to attract foreign investment.
The House observed a minute silence in honour of Aba residents killed by bandits in recent time.
