- The House of Representatives has officially summoned National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Minister of Defence Christopher Musa, and Minister of Finance Taiwo Oyedele to account for recent security spending and worsening insecurity.
- The legislative intervention follows a horrifying series of coordinated bandit raids across Zamfara and Sokoto states that left 93 people dead, alongside the abduction of dozens of elderly men and tertiary students.
- Lawmakers on the floor of the Green Chamber strongly advocated for the rapid legalization of state police, a strict re-evaluation of the Central Bank’s cashless policy, and tighter monitoring of Bureau De Change operators to choke off illegal ransom flows.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, officially summoned the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, and the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the resolution seeks immediate clarification regarding the precise financial releases made to the Ministry of Defence over the past six months, with lawmakers demanding to know why field operational results have plummeted below public expectations.
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The legislative action followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance introduced by Sulaiman Gumi, the lawmaker representing the Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State, who decried the worsening humanitarian and security crises destabilizing the North-West zone.
While presenting the substance of the motion, Gumi detailed a bloody campaign of violence executed by heavily armed bandits between June 1 and June 6, 2026.
He revealed that an armada of approximately 250 motorcycles, each carrying three armed riders, invaded several border communities across Zamfara and Sokoto states, slaughtering 93 citizens.
The lawmaker also highlighted the midnight abduction of seven students from their off-campus hostel at the Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, which follows the unresolved two-month kidnapping of two senior lecturers from the same institution.
Gumi stated that just a day prior, an additional 50 elderly men were taken captive in Zamfara, alongside a tragic incident in Talata Marafa where a local councillor and a director were executed by bandits after the criminals outright refused to accept ransom payouts.
The terrifying security briefing sparked intense debate within the Green Chamber, forcing lawmakers to propose aggressive structural overhauls.
Jigawa State representative Abubakar Yalleman and his Ogun State counterpart, Olumide Osoba, urgently called on the National Assembly to expedite all pending legislative frameworks to legalize State Police forces.
Addressing the financial mechanics fueling the kidnapping industry, Lagos lawmaker Babajimi Benson advised the Federal Government to strictly revisit and tighten the Central Bank’s cashless policy, pointing out that restricting large physical cash movements makes the payment of bulk illicit ransoms practically impossible.
Additionally, representative Ademorin Kuye demanded that the federal government officially gazette the total prohibition of ransom payments while imposing zero-tolerance tracking mechanisms on Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to disrupt regional illicit financial flows.
Following the heated debate, the House mandated its Committee on Defence to ensure full compliance with the summons and deliver an analytical report within two weeks.
The legislature also urged the Ministry of Defence to deploy immediate tactical reinforcements and heavy operational hardware to the frontline hotspots in Zamfara State, while advising the ministries of Agriculture, Education, and Humanitarian Affairs to deploy non-kinetic community engagement strategies to structurally de-escalate the regional crisis.
