By Aaron Ossai
The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government and security agencies to intensify efforts to secure the immediate release of all abducted students, teachers, and other victims still being held by kidnappers across the country.
In a resolution adopted during plenary yesterday, the lawmakers urged authorities to act with urgency, warning that every passing hour increases the danger faced by those still in captivity.
The House stressed that the safe return of the victims must become a national priority, noting that delays in rescue operations could have irreversible consequences.
As part of measures to strengthen security in the South-West, the lawmakers also called for the establishment of a permanent military Forward Operating Base in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The proposed base, they said, would complement the deployment of 1,000 forest guards already approved by the Federal Government and provide a sustained security presence across the Old Oyo National Park and surrounding communities.
According to the House, the area has become a strategic corridor exploited by criminal elements, and a stronger military presence is necessary to prevent the park and its border routes from serving as safe havens for kidnappers and other violent groups.
The lawmakers further renewed their demand for the implementation of a decentralised security framework, including the creation of State Police, Local Government policing units, decentralised courts, and an integrated national intelligence and surveillance system.
They argued that the country’s current security challenges require a more localised and responsive approach, adding that continued delays in implementing the reforms would leave communities vulnerable and undermine national security efforts.
To ensure compliance with the resolutions, the House mandated its Committees on Defence, Interior, Police Affairs, and National Security to jointly oversee implementation and submit a progress report to the full House within 30 days.
Leading debate on the general principles of the motion, its sponsor, Hon. Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala expressed worry over the barbaric execution of Mr. Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher, who was beheaded in captivity by his abductors.
He lamented that “mothers in Orire are sleepless, fathers are broken, and children still in the hands of their captors are crying out for a rescue that has not yet come.”
“Every passing hour of their captivity is an hour of unbearable agony for families who do not know whether their loved ones are alive or dead”, he further lamented.
At the end of a robust debate on the general principles of the motion, majority of members at plenary adopted its prayers.
