Reps Pledge Stronger Laws Against Insecurity as NFSS Urges Presidential Assent to Its Bill

The House of Representatives has pledged to continue enacting laws aimed at combating insecurity across the country.

Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Hon. Ahmed Satomi, made the promise while declaring open a National Summit on Security held in Abuja.

The summit, themed “Managing Security and Security Challenges at the Grassroots in Nigeria: The Role of Critical Stakeholders,” drew scholars and security experts from across the country.

Represented by the Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Daniel Labija, Hon. Satomi called for the active support of stakeholders to help Nigeria overcome its security challenges.

In his paper titled “Institutionalizing Forest Security: A Long-Term Strategy for National Security Sustainability,” the Commander General of the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS), Dr. Joshua Osatimehin, said officers and men of the Service had received professional training from the Police, Military, NSCDC, and other paramilitary agencies in intelligence gathering and security strategies. This, he noted, was to complement the efforts of formal security agencies in protecting lives and property, especially at the grassroots.

Dr. Osatimehin stated that the NFSS is operational in all 36 states and 774 local government areas across the country.

While reaffirming the NFSS’s commitment to supporting the nation’s security agencies, he appealed to President Bola Tinubu to sign the NFSS Bill currently before him into law, to strengthen efforts against banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, and other forms of criminality in Nigeria’s forest regions.

Also presenting a paper titled “Managing Crisis and Insecurity Challenges: The Roles of Law Enforcement Agencies,” the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Saka Ajao Adewale, called for greater collaboration among stakeholders to reduce insecurity nationwide.

Represented by ACP Harrison Oruruw, CP Adewale assured that the Police would not relent in their efforts to rid society of crime and ensure peace and national development.

Other speakers at the forum emphasized the need for the Federal Government to strengthen grassroots security, particularly in the nation’s forests, by granting constitutional recognition to the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS).