The Senate today called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately declare bandits as terrorists to give way for security agencies to wage total war against them.

The Senate also urged the President to give orders to the military to eliminate the bandits by bombing their hideouts.

In addition, Red Chamber also asked the President to immediately declare all known leadership of the bandits wanted, and track them wherever they are for arrest and prosecution.

The resolutions were reached after the red chamber considered a motion sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC, Sokoto East) on banditry in Sokoto during plenary.

Presenting his motion, the lawmaker lamented that Sokoto-East Senatorial District has now become a safe haven for bandits, following a crackdown on them by the military in Zamfara.

He expressed worry that on Saturday 25th September, 2021, twenty-one (21) security personnel were killed in Dama and Gangara villages by rampaging bandits.

The lawmaker disclosed that out of those killed, 15 of them were soldiers, 3 mobile police and 3 members of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, in addition to yet to be ascertained number of civilians from the neighboring villages.

Gobir said losing such numbers of trained security personnel will further deplete the numerical strength of the security personnel in the country and therefore jeopardizing the security architecture of the country.

The lawmaker observed that while the crackdown on the bandits was taking place in Zamfara state, no concrete measures have so far been taken in Sokoto State, leaving it totally exposed to the activities of bandits.

Gobir, therefore, called on the military to carry out a holistic operation on frontline states such as Sokoto, Katsina, Niger and Kaduna in order to produce effective and the desired results.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, while commending the efforts of the Armed Forces in the sustained fight against insecurity in the country, also called for increased funding for the military.

Lawan believed that the issue of insecurity is one issue the Senate will never get tired of debating, saying the Senate must commend the Armed Forces and other security agencies.

The Senate President therefore advocated for increased security funding up to N1 trillion and then hold our security agencies accountable.

“I believe that we need to monitor the procurement processes when we give such kind of resources to our Armed Forces. The security related committees, particularly the armed forces related committees – Defence, Army, Navy and Airforce Committees need to work very closely on the procurement processes by these services.

“We must ensure that funds appropriated are not put in the wrong areas, and ensure that this fight is taken to its logical conclusion,” he added.