Those campaigning for the non-renewal of the state of emergency imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on May 14 last year met with disappointment when the House of Representatives yesterday approved President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for its extension for another six months. The Senate is expected to follow suit next week.

Disclosing rationale behind the unanimous support for the President’s request, spokesman of the House, Zakari Mohammed, said members had a rethink after listening to military chiefs who briefed the House on the progress so far made since the commencement of the emergency rule in the affected states.

The House was briefed on the efforts at rescuing the over 200 students abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, Borno State.

The Senate, on the other hand, rose from a three-hour closed door meeting with the security chiefs, and resolved to consult with relevant stakeholders before taking decision on the President’s request for extension of the emergency.

The House had similarly earlier met behind closed doors with all the service chiefs, together with the Inspector General of Police for close to three hours before voting in approval of the extension.

Mohammed said the House took the decision because it believed the submission of the Service Chiefs who told the members that Nigeria is at war, given the level of attack of the Boko Haram insurgents on the nation.

The House also assured that nothing will tamper with the democratic mandate given to the Governors in the affected states because the Constitution gives adequate cover to their terms in office.

Explaining why the Service Chiefs were invited for briefing he said: “We needed to hear from them the progress report on the last extension, especially now that we are getting foreign collaboration.”

He said as a responsible institution, the House saw the need to approve the extension, even as it empathise with the people of the affected states on the consequent inconveniences.

Many members, especially from Yobe State, had on Wednesday opposed the extension of the emergency rule during debate on the matter on the floor.

Mohammed stated that the Service Chiefs said much was being done to ensure the effective motivation of security personnel who are on ground fighting the insurgents.

He said they debunked the report of alleged lack of equipment for the forces, as according to them, what they have at the moment was enough to take them to a reasonable level.

On the efforts at rescuing the Chibok schoolgirls, Mohammed said the military chiefs confirmed that they were making progress, and declined to make further comment on the situation.

Also in the Senate, Northern Senators, who on Wednesday vowed to frustrate the extension proposal, started shifting ground yesterday, resulting in a sharp division among them after brainstorming with the security chiefs.

At the meeting with Senators were Air Marshal Alex Badeh (Chief of Defence Staff); Major General Kenneth Minimah (Chief of Army Staff); Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin (Chief of Naval Staff), Air Vice Marshall Adesola Amosu (Chief of Air Staff), Inspector General of Police, (Mohammed Abubakar) and Director of the State Security Services, Ekpeyong Nsah.

Highlighting the position of the Senate on the meeting with the security chiefs, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the session, said that the Senate had resolved to embark on more consultations with stakeholders before making a definite decision on the President’s request.

Ekweremadu, after the marathon session, noted that the deliberation with the Service Chiefs was fruitful and that the discussion was analysed after the security personnel had left.

“The Senate met with the Service Chiefs, Inspector-General of Police and the DG, SSS, and we are fully briefed on the operations of the state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa over the last twelve months.

“Thereafter when they had left, we analysed our conversation with them and as responsible and patriotic Nigerians, we are looking at it from very diverse angles to ensure that the security in those states improve at the shortest possible time.

“And further to that, we have also agreed to do further consultations with all the necessary stakeholders to ensure that everybody would buy into whatever needs to be done to secure those states and to defeat insurgency in those states.

“This is exactly what transpired in the closed door session. So by Tuesday we would continue our deliberation on the issue of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states,” he stated.

•Partly based on a Daily Independent report. Photo shows soldiers enforcing the emergency rule Borno.

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