A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, has called on the National Assembly to immediately review relevant sections of the Constitution to allow security agencies such as the Nigeria Correctional Service, NCoS, to access funds directly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, CRF.
Nwauju also urged federal lawmakers to include the NCoS in the national security budget as part of long-term strategies to address the growing insecurity across the country.
He further recommended an urgent review of the 2025 Appropriation Bill for the Ministry of Interior.
According to him, increased budgetary support would strengthen the operations of the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and the Federal Fire Service, agencies he said are critical to consolidating national security.
In a statement he signed on Wednesday and made available to journalists, Nwauju said his appeal follows the recent surge in violence across parts of the country, especially in Benue, Enugu, and Ebonyi States.
He stressed the need for the country to restrategize to “curb cross-border criminality which has assumed a terroristic dimension.”
He added, “The 10th National Assembly must go beyond oversighting for roads and bridges, which I consider too elementary, to proactively inventing ways of tackling societal needs which will help strengthen our democracy.
“Those in Benue, parts of Ebonyi and Enugu states have been faced with threats to their collective existence as a people and I believe our lawmakers can make laws to protect lives and properties.”
Nwauju also recalled that in September/October 2024, he made a public call for the integration of the Ministry of Police Affairs into the Ministry of Interior, noting that the move would strengthen national security.
He emphasized the need for synergy among the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Nigeria Customs Service, and the Police in border surveillance operations.
Nwauju said these agencies can collaborate more effectively as part of a unified internal security framework for national peace and stability.
He stated, “Given the fact also that we need to ingeniously implement the Steven Orosanye report, the Police Affairs Ministry should be embedded into the Interior Ministry which has shown capacity in the past 2yrs to galvanize the agencies under it and helped evolve these paramilitary agencies into digital platforms.
“Integrating Police Affairs into the Interior Ministry will help curb the menacing threats from cross border terrorists who are being mistaken for bandits or herdsmen.
“There is no way we can effectively end the madness going on in Benue and other parts of the country without taking hold of our land borders and we cannot manage the monstrous size of our borders without adequately funding the relevant agencies of government and strategically positioning them for optimal results hence, the call for synchronizing the Police, NIS and Customs to serve as our border Police.
“With the 40% digitization of land borders so far achieved by the Interior Ministry, pushing it towards the 100% threshold will greatly improve national security but this cannot be achieved without a proper and reasonable budget.
“We must not ignore the fact that on Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological and safety needs are the baseline on the hierarchy of needs and the quest for human survival rests on these. Therefore, we must think security first, think security second and think security third. It is a priority and time is now.
“The National Assembly must wake up to immediately review its 2025 Appropriation for the Interior Ministry in order to urgently help curb the mindless cross-border killings being perpetuated by terrorists against unarmed Nigerians,” he added.
Benue State has long suffered a series of attacks by suspected herdsmen, with the latest incident occurring on Friday in Yelewata community, Yelwata Local Government Area.
The attack reportedly claimed the lives of over 200 persons and left many others severely injured.
The tragedy has displaced thousands of residents in the state, which is popularly referred to as the “Food Basket of the Nation.”
In response, President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday paid a condolence visit to Benue to sympathize with the people of the state.
During a stakeholders’ meeting, the President directed the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to apprehend those responsible for the brutal killings.
