The House of Representatives on Tuesday raised concern over growing security threats to the National Assembly, including a terrorist threat to bomb the legislative complex.

Chairman of the House Committee on Internal Security, Hon. Garba Ibrahim Muhammad, disclosed this on Tuesday during a public hearing on a bill to establish the Legislative Security Directorate, held at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.

The proposed legislation is titled “A bill for an act to provide for the establishment and the functions of legislative security directorate in the national assembly; to provide for the qualification and condition of service of the sergeant-at-arms and other personnel of the directorate and for related matters, 2024 (HB 1632)”.

Muhammad said intelligence reports and security incidents in recent months revealed that the National Assembly has increasingly become a target for criminal and terrorist attacks.

The lawmaker noted that the influx of people into the complex daily, including visitors, lobbyists, and demonstrators, has made it a vulnerable target.

He said: “The National Assembly is going through a lot of security challenges; we have experienced car thefts, motorcycle thefts, vandalism, fake Identity Cards, unwanted visitors accessing the National Assembly without documentation, petty trading, which makes the National Assembly look like a small market.

“We have received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly Complex and threats from protesters to lock up the National Assembly. Legislators are exposed to threats from constituents and others who have gained easy access to their offices without any formal appointment.”

He warned that, with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, it would truncate legislative activities in the National Assembly.

“It is obvious that with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, will truncate the legislative activities in the National Assembly and if activities are thwarted, there will be no representation, no oversight, no annual budget, there will be no plenary at all, and that will destabilise legislative procedure, democracy and the stability of the system, and our Nation at large.

“Effective security management needs a total approach that requires various elements to be integrated to secure our environment for legislative procedure to function effectively and maximally.

“That is why this Bill is very important, because it seeks to address all the challenges as aforesaid and adopt world best practices of Parliamentary security procedures and architecture,” he said.

He also urged State Houses of Assembly to emulate the National Assembly by adopting similar security frameworks to safeguard their legislative environments.

The proposed Legislative Security Directorate Bill (HB 1632) seeks to establish a specialised internal security agency within the National Assembly and provide a legal framework for its operation.

The directorate will oversee the recruitment, training, and operation of the Sergeant-at-Arms and other security personnel responsible for protecting lawmakers, staff, visitors, and government property. (The Guardian)