By Sandra Michaels
ABUJA — THE Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has called on President Bola Tinubu to take immediate and decisive steps to stem the escalating wave of terrorism and banditry across Northern Nigeria.
Expressing deep concern over the relentless assault on rural communities, the opposition lawmakers declared that the scale of killings, abductions, and mass displacement of innocent citizens has reached intolerable levels.
In a statement released to journalists on Sunday, the caucus urged the Commander-in-Chief to order a sustained, coordinated security offensive aimed at reclaiming all territories currently dominated by terrorists and criminal gangs.
The lawmakers drew attention to recent bloody incursions across several northern states—including Plateau, Niger, Sokoto, Kaduna, and Katsina—where scores of residents have reportedly been slaughtered and many others dragged into captivity.
To reverse the trend, the caucus demanded that the affected regions be immediately designated for intensive security operations. They urged the presidency to mandate security forces to dominate the battleground and clear out terrorist enclaves, forests, and hideouts.
They, however, cautioned that such kinetic operations must strictly target the operational space of the criminal groups, ensuring maximum protection for non-combatant civilians.
To ensure the military is not constrained by logistics, the caucus advocated an extraordinary funding mechanism for the security campaign, urging the Federal Government to consider drawing up to $5 billion from the nation’s external reserves if necessary to crush the insurgency.
