The Senate Adhoc Committee on South-East/North East of the Senate National Security Summit 2025 has assured the people of the South East of its resolve to restore normalcy and adequate security in the southeast zone.
Senator Austin Akobundu, Chairman of the committee, gave the assurance during the security summit in Enugu, yesterday.
The summit is with the theme: “Strengthening Nigeria’s National Security Architecture: Innovation, Collaboration and Resilience in a Changing World.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the zonal hearing stakeholders were drawn from the traditional and religious institutions, President-Generals of communities, Security agencies, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, civil society, political office holders, among others.
He said that the National Assembly would continue to play its role in ensuring that inter-agency collaboration among the security agencies was sustained.
The chairman added that the adequate resources required for the actualisation of all important tasks of restoring the South East to the path of peace, progress, and prosperity, would not only be appropriated but also released as and when due.
He thanked the security agencies, religious leaders, traditional rulers, the media, and other stakeholders for their efforts to end the menace in the region.
“I put this clarion call out to them not to rest on their oars but to continue to work in collaboration with one another until our collective goals are achieved.
“To our men and officers in the frontline, your sacrifices will never be forgotten. You are our greatest assets and heroes in this war against extremism and criminality,” he said.
Explaining the significance of the summit, Akobundu said the Senate resolved to organise a National Security Summit to tackle security issues in the country.
He further explained that the summit would enable Nigerians, including those directly affected by the security situation to make input to the search for a comprehensive and conclusive solution to lingering insecurity in Nigeria.
The chairman pointed out that the concerted efforts by stakeholders to stem the tide over the years have yielded no fruits as the security situation keeps getting worse by the day.
“The consequences of such a trend on the victims and the entire populace can only be imagined. Whole communities are traumatised and displaced, farmlands abandoned and schools disrupted. The other grave socio-economic aftermath on our people, included spikes in poverty, hunger, disease, and illiteracy,” he said.
The chairman stressed that the actions of these non-state actors had left the region bleeding as lives were lost, properties destroyed, and people displaced.
According to him, schools have no enrollment or even performance in national and international exams, where the southeast region had hitherto established itself as an unchallengeable colossus of academic excellence.
“The declaration of Mondays as sit-at-home and the deployment of violence as a strategy by some sections of these agitators have adversely affected the region’s economy and its attendant consequences on our people.”
In his remarks, the Speaker Enugu House of Assembly, Mr Uche Ugwu, described the summit as an opportunity to listen, understand, and jointly suggest solutions and discover the root cause of insecurity in the Southeast.
He emphasised the need to address these issues of insecurity with sincerity and courage, stressing that it required partnerships among governments and communities, security agencies, traditional institutions, youth groups, and civil society organisations.
