The Senate has told the Federal Government to stop rehabilitating and reintegrating repentant Boko Haram and other insurgents into society.
The call made on Tuesday was sequel to a motion on the increase in attacks, kidnappings and killings of serving and retired military personnel, including former Director of Defence Information, Retired Major General Rabe Abubakar.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua (APC, Katsina), made the motion during plenary, just as the Senate criticised the rehabilitation of Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals under the government’s deradicalisation and rehabilitation programmes.
According to some of the Senators, the unending insurgency crisis in the country, particularly in northern Nigeria, was due to the constant release of “repentant” criminals back into society.
They expressed deep worry over the escalating insecurity in the country, saying the recent abduction and killing of retired military officers portends shift in Nigeria’s security challenges.
They highlighted what they said was a disturbing pattern of attacks on serving and retired military personnel.
They recalled several incidents between January 2023 and May 2026, including the killing of retired Major General Richard Duru in Owerri after a $50,000 ransom was reportedly paid and the murder of retired Brigadier General O.M. Harlord Udokwere in Abuja.
Others are the 56-day captivity of former NYSC Director-General, retired Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga and the death in captivity of retired Major Aja in Kogi State.
The Senators said the escalation on such trend seriously threaten o national security, as many of the victims previously occupied sensitive intelligence, operational and command positions, adding that insecurity now extends beyond individual victims, with severe implications for national unity, democratic stability, and public confidence in the government.
The Senate observed a minute of silence in honour of late Major General Rabe Abubakar and all Nigerians who have lost their lives to terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of violent criminality across the Federation.
They called on the Federal Government to ensure that perpetrators of these deadly acts are arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.
It called on all security and intelligence agencies to significantly strengthen intelligence gathering, intelligence sharing, surveillance operations, threat assessment mechanisms and early warning systems to prevent attacks and improve response effectiveness.
The lawmakers called on the Federal Government to accelerate the deployment of modern security technologies required to combat terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
