Tinubu Declares Nationwide Security Emergency As Lawmakers Rebel Over Negotiations With Bandits

Nigeria woke to a jolt on Wednesday as President Bola Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency, directing the military, police and intelligence services to rapidly expand recruitment and deploy thousands more personnel across the country. The order came amid a storm of kidnappings, school invasions, and violent attacks that have rattled the nation in just one week.

But the President’s directive collided with fierce criticism from within the National Assembly, where both Senators and House members openly challenged the Federal Government’s decision to negotiate with bandit groups behind recent mass abductions in Kwara, Niger and Kebbi States.

A Week Of Terror Across Schools, Churches And Communities

The latest chain of attacks has been grim. In Kebbi State, bandits stormed Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, killing Vice Principal Hasan Makuku, injuring the principal, and abducting 24 students. Fifty girls later escaped, but many remain held.

Four days later in Niger State, St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Agwara LGA, was overrun. More than 300 pupils and 12 teachers were seized.

In Kwara State, gunmen attacked a CAC church in Eruku, killing two worshippers and kidnapping 38. The victims were freed on Sunday.

The fallout was swift: dozens of schools shuttered across Kebbi, Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, Niger, Katsina and Kwara. The Federal Government also ordered 41 Federal Unity Colleges nationwide to temporarily close their doors.

Presidency Defends Negotiation: Lawmakers Reject It

Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga insisted the government’s priority was the safety of victims, arguing that security agencies avoided a direct confrontation because abductees were being used as human shields.

But this justification fell flat in the Senate.

Lawmakers demanded a full stop to negotiations with terrorists and punishment for whoever ordered the withdrawal of troops from the Kebbi school hours before the attack — a decision they described as “inexplicable and dangerous.”

Tempers rose as some Senators warned that the country was “under attack” and sliding toward a security breakdown. The chamber had earlier passed a motion praising the President for securing the release of victims in Kwara and Niger but even that goodwill dissolved under the weight of inconsistencies and unanswered questions.

Senator Asiru Yisa, sponsor of the motion, recounted the horror of the recent attacks, while Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin pressed for international support to shore up Nigeria’s security framework.

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele called the moment a “national crossroads,” urging deeper accountability from both the executive and the Senate’s own committees.

Others, like Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, insisted the administration must take responsibility, not hide behind the failures of previous governments. “Who ordered the withdrawal?” he asked sharply. “If I were Commander-in-Chief, I would demand answers.”

Senate President Godswill Akpabio echoed concerns of internal sabotage, recounting intelligence lapses that cost the lives of security officers and left schools exposed despite prior warnings.

The chamber erupted further when Senator Seriake Dickson accused the majority caucus of “polishing the truth” instead of confronting the crisis. APC Senators pushed back, forcing his microphone to be cut.

Reps Coalition: ‘This Is A Betrayal Of The Nigerian People’

The House of Representatives saw its own storm. A coalition of lawmakers cutting across all six geopolitical zones issued a scathing statement condemning the government’s engagement with bandits.

Under the banner House to the Rescue, they declared:

“This is not leadership. This is an abdication of responsibility.”

They compared Nigeria’s situation to global examples where negotiations with criminal groups failed disastrously citing Colombia, Mexico, Afghanistan, Somalia and Mali.

Their warning was stark: “Negotiation with bandits leads to more violence. Nigeria will not be the first country where this strategy succeeds.”

The group demanded an immediate halt to covert talks, a coordinated national security operation, and a published security strategy with clear accountability.

Opposition Leaders, ADC, And Atiku Add Their Voices

The African Democratic Congress joined the outcry, accusing the government of hiding the real terms under which victims were released. The party condemned the closure of Unity Schools, calling it “an admission of weakness that rewards terror.”

Prominent opposition figures including Senator David Mark, Babachir Lawal, Nasir El-Rufai and Rotimi Amaechi attended the ADC meeting, signalling an emerging united front.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also blasted the administration, questioning why the bandits were not arrested or neutralised if security agencies had tracked them successfully.

He argued that the government was “celebrating compliance from criminals,” reducing kidnappings to convenient back-door conversations instead of stamping them out.

Tinubu Responds With Massive Recruitment Order

In a direct response to the unfolding crisis, President Tinubu authorised the immediate recruitment of:

• 20,000 additional police officers (raising the current drive to 50,000),
• More military personnel for rapid deployment,
• And the conversion of NYSC camps into temporary police training depots.

Police officers withdrawn from VIP protection duties will now undergo crash retraining before being sent into high-risk zones.

The President also ordered the DSS to deploy all trained forest guards and recruit more operatives to clear violent groups from forests nationwide.

“This is a national emergency,” he said. “There will be no more hiding places for agents of evil.”

Tinubu urged citizens to stay vigilant and support security forces with critical information.

He also renewed his call for the legalisation of state police and advised states to discontinue siting boarding schools in remote areas without proper security.