Members of the House of Representatives have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits and their sponsors as terrorists. They made the call during Thursday’s plenary in the green chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.
Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, had raised the matter while addressing his colleagues in the lower house. The call by the lawmakers to proscribe bandits and their sponsors comes a day after their counterparts in the Senate chamber took a similar stand.
“The Senate on Wednesday, 29th September 2021 adopted a motion asking President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits ravaging the northern part of the country terrorists and wage a total war on them,” the lawmaker told his colleagues. “They also asked that the President declare all known leaders of bandits wanted and arrest them, wherever they were found for speedy prosecution. Such declaration to be done through a Proscription Order can be done pursuant to Section 2 of the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 (As Amended).
“I would like to echo the same sentiment and ask honourable colleagues to join the Senate in urging Mr President to declare bandits and their sponsors as terrorists. This will underline the determination of the government to combat the wave of criminality and murders conducted by bandits all over the country.”