•Femi Falana, SAN
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, and a lawyer, author and political activist, Dele Farotimi, have faulted the House of Representatives following the information on the alleged plan by terrorists to bomb the Nigerian National Assembly.
Recall that the House of Representatives Committee on Internal Security had disclosed that it received threats from terrorist groups to bomb the National Assembly complex.
Garba Muhammad, chairman of the committee, made the revelation on Tuesday during a public hearing on a bill seeking to establish a Legislative Security Directorate for the National Assembly, reports Daily Independent.
Muhammad said the parliament had faced rising security challenges in recent months, including theft, vandalism and unauthorised entry by individuals posing as visitors or using fake identity cards, warning that the threats, if not addressed urgently, could disrupt legislative activities and undermine national stability.
He said; “The National Assembly is going through a lot of security challenges; we have experienced car thefts, motorcycle thefts, vandalism, fake identity cards, and unwanted visitors accessing the National Assembly without documentation.
“We have received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly complex and threats from protesters to lock up the Assembly. Legislators are also exposed to threats from constituents and others who gain easy access into their offices without formal appointments”, he added.
“It is obvious that with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, they will truncate legislative activities in the National Assembly. And if activities are thwarted, there will be no representation, no oversight, no annual budget, no plenary at all. That will destabilise legislative procedure, democracy, and the stability of our nation,” he cautioned.
However, while in separate chats with our correspondent, both Falana and Farotimi faulted the approach of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, saying going public with such information if there was such a threat could instigate fear.
Falana said; “It’s not a matter for debate if you have such information, you have to go to the security agent to take charge,” he said.
“I am saying it is totally unwarranted to make such information public in the first place. I think that body ought to have gone to the security services.
“The office of the NSA is next door to the office of the State Security Service. It’s also in the same area, so why have they not lodged complaints? You understand me?
“The security threat cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand in Nigeria. But we must also learn to do things appropriately.
“It’s not a matter to announce that you scare people. You have to process such information or such intelligence reports by reporting to the appropriate security agents,” he said.
On his own, Farotimi said if there was any such information on planned attack on the National Assembly, the federal lawmakers should not have come open to disclose same, saying it could be a mere ploy to get the complex beefed up with more security.
“Even if there is a plan to bomb the National Assembly and they heard it, should they even come open to say it?” he said.
“To me it is a ploy to get more security for them at the National Assembly and that is just what it is.
“If they, as the National Assembly, have oversight over the security agencies in the country and they have such information, what stops them from approaching them with it?
