Date: 2018-04-08

Similarly, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said the National Assembly was committed to initiating template that would address insecurity, insufficient funding and inadequate personnel, including structure of the police.

Speaking during a condolence visit to the Olofa of Offa, Oba Muftau Esuwoye, on the incident, Saraki said it was not advisable inviting the military for assistance. He said, "There is no society that delegates the responsibilities of the police to the military. Because it also has its own fallbacks; the number of the military is very thin. They are in most of the states of the federation. This makes it difficult for them to protect the territorial integrity of the country.

"This calls for the general improvement on the security infrastructure in the country."

The Senate President stated that Nigeria's security challenges were as a result of the country's inadequate response to security.

He said, "All the issue had to do with how we will improve on our security infrastructure. It is clear that we are not responding adequately to this. That is why we organised a security summit sometime ago to address the issue and to work closely with the executive and see how we can find solutions to the security problems in the country.

"We, in the legislative arm, are ready to come up with the real design to improve on the security challenges, whether it is the human resources, equipment, funding or legislation. There is also the issue of the actual structure of the police.

"This issue requires a very radical and serious-minded approach. Unless we address this, we will continue to have this kind of scenario where a bunch of criminals will hold a town for two hours and carry out this mayhem. There is no society that will really allow this kind of thing to happen."

Saraki added that in a place like Offa, known for its vibrancy in commerce, the issue of insecurity must be tackled so people could continue to go about their daily activities.

"The police must see this as an institutional issue. It is not personal. On our part as legislators, we are ready to do anything that will empower them," he said.