The Senate on Tuesday intensified pressure on the Federal Government to overhaul Nigeria’s security architecture, urging President Bola Tinubu to immediately approve the recruitment of 100,000 fresh military personnel to confront insurgency, banditry and the rising wave of school abductions across the country.

Lawmakers also demanded a full investigation into the Safe School Programme, questioning how funds allocated to the initiative were spent despite repeated attacks on educational institutions.

Their concerns were provoked by the deadly raid on Government Girls School, Maga, in Kebbi State, where gunmen killed the vice principal and reportedly abducted 25 students.

The debate followed additional prayers raised by Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) during plenary, which triggered a heated session on Nigeria’s worsening security situation.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, presided over the sitting and later moved the chamber into a closed-door meeting to discuss classified details.

Oshiomhole, while leading the call for massive recruitment and a security audit, warned that the scale of insecurity required a strategic expansion of the armed forces.

“I urged the President and the armed forces to recruit an additional 100,000 military personnel so we can have enough members and women in our troops. It is also another way to create employment for our youthful population.”

He faulted the alleged commercialisation of national security and demanded answers about the Safe School funds.

“People have turned our security to business. We should not monetise the death of our people by those living. What happened to the money earmarked for the Safe School programme?”

Oshiomhole pressed further for a Senate-led probe and enhanced technological capacity for security agencies.

“Again, I urge the FG and relevant Senate Committees to probe the funds appropriated for the Safe School programme.

“I call on the military to deploy the use of technology and tracking devices to be able to track these criminals,” he urged.

His additional prayer was unanimously seconded and adopted by lawmakers across party lines.

Reacting, Senate President Godswill Akpabio endorsed the call for 100,000 new troops and supported the probe of the Safe School programme.

“We urge the Federal Government and Senate Committee to probe the spending. Unfortunately, these criminals are going after soft targets.”

Akpabio also cautioned against politicising insecurity.

He also offered condolences to the victims of the Maga school attack.

“But crime is crime. It doesn’t matter under which administration it takes place. Even the almighty America has crime daily.”

“All lives matter. May the souls of our fellow Nigerians and the vice principal who died in the course of protecting the students rest in peace.”

The debate in the Senate also touched on the country’s current defence capabilities.

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The call followed Monday’s assault on a Government Girls School in the Maga community of Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area, where gunmen killed the vice-principal and abducted the students, prompting renewed concern over persistent attacks on schools in the Northwest.

In a statement issued by the Communication Specialist for UNICEF Nigeria, Sussan Akila, the agency condemned the incident.

Akila said: “UNICEF strongly condemns the reported attack on a Government Girls School in the Maga community of Kebbi State, which resulted in the death of the school’s Vice-Principal and the abduction of 25 students.

“This tragic incident is yet another stark reminder of the urgent need to protect children, schools, and the personnel they rely upon to learn safely.”

Expressing sympathy, Akila noted, “We stand with the affected community at this difficult time; our heartfelt condolences go to those who have lost their loved ones, and we wish a full recovery for those injured.”

On the abduction, she said, “UNICEF further urges the swift release of the abducted children.”

Akila also stressed the obligation to safeguard learning spaces.

“Students, education facilities, and their personnel should be protected under international law from any form of attack, and those responsible must be held to account in accordance with national and international standards,” she said.

Referencing Nigeria’s 2015 commitment, she stated, “In 2015, the Nigerian government endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, which outlines concrete steps to safeguard the civilian nature of schools and universities to ensure safe access of students to education during conflict.”

She urged full implementation.

Akila said UNICEF was working with authorities and communities to improve child safety and promote secure learning environments.

“These systems and environments must be reinforced to prevent future tragedies.

“No child should be put at risk while pursuing an education,” the statement added.

The Safe Schools Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict.

It has been endorsed by 121 States, PUNCH Online confirms from the SSD website on Tuesday, with Nigeria endorsing it in May 2015.

In April 2021, the House of Representatives resolved to investigate the alleged abandonment of Federal Government’s Safe School Initiative, especially the N500m allocated to the rehabilitation of the Government Secondary School Chibok, Borno State, where Boko Haram abducted over 200 schoolgirls.

Months later in October, President of the Senate then, Ahmad Lawan, said that the Safe School Initiative of the Federal Government was designed to fail.

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The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Michael Waltz, and American musician, Nicki Minaj, on Tuesday evening highlighted Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges during a UN event focused on global religious freedom.

The event was titled “Combatting Religious Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria.”

Both Waltz and Minaj drew attention to attacks targeting Christian communities and linked them to broader concerns about religious liberty.

In his remarks, Waltz described the killings in Nigeria as “genocide wearing the mask of chaos.”

He said, “In the Middle Belt and in the North, churches burn, mothers bury their children for the crime of singing Amazing Grace; pastors have been beheaded for preaching the sermon on the mount. Entire villages wake up to gunfire because they dare to commit the crime, the crime of calling Jesus their Lord. People go to jail under blasphemy laws for simply wearing a cross.

“This is not random violence. This is genocide wearing the mask of chaos.”

He also cited recent kidnappings as part of the pattern of insecurity.

“It just happened yesterday; 25 little girls were ripped out of their school.”

He referenced international reporting on religious violence, noting that Nigeria accounts for a significant share of global attacks on Christians.

A Non-Governmental Organisation Open Doors, he said, “reports 80 per cent of the violence against Christians worldwide is occurring in Nigeria.”

The ambassador commended President Donald Trump’s recent condemnation of the killings in Nigeria.

“Yet in the face of this evil, one leader has refused to look away. President Trump has made the persecuted church his priority like no other president before him in American history.

“He was the first US president to convene world leaders right here at the United Nations in 2019 to draw attention, draw the world’s attention to what is happening. He created the Religious Liberty Commission to fight for believers everywhere.

“And while Nigeria’s Christians cried out, he answered, and he has answered loudly. He has reminded the world that protecting Christians is not about politics. It is a moral duty,” Waltz said.

He described Trump’s intervention as an inspiration, saying, “We need voices that pierce the silence that we’ve heard from the international community, that humanises these statistics that we keep hearing, and that demands accountability.”

Minaj, speaking at the same briefing, framed the Nigerian crisis as part of a global issue affecting freedom of belief.

She said, “In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed. Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart, and entire communities live in fear constantly, simply because of how they pray.”

She stressed that similar challenges exist elsewhere, noting, “Sadly, this problem is not only a growing problem in Nigeria, but also in so many other countries across the world, and it demands urgent action.”

The American musician thanked Trump “for prioritising this issue and for his leadership on the global stage in calling for urgent action to defend Christians in Nigeria, to combat extremism, and to bring a stop to violence against those who simply want to exercise their natural right to freedom of religion or belief.”

She expressed the hope that Tuesday’s would “encourage deepened solidarity for us to urgently work together to ensure every person can enjoy the right to believe, to worship, and to live in peace.”

The event comes after Trump said there was an ongoing “Christian genocide” in Nigeria and announced that the country would be designated a “Country of Particular Concern.”

The Federal Government has strongly denied allegations of religiously motivated violence, maintaining that insecurity in the country stems from criminal activities unrelated to faith. Despite Nigeria’s position, US officials have continued to voice concerns.

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