A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, on Wednesday said bandits were threatening to abduct members of the National Assembly.

Idris stated this during the resumption of debate on national security in the lower chamber, calling on President Bola Tinubu to review his directive on the withdrawal of police operatives attached to Very Important Personalities (VIPs).

Tinubu had on Sunday ordered the withdrawal of police officers at a security meeting in Abuja, attended by Service Chiefs and the Director-General of the Department of State Services.

The President directed the police authorities to deploy them to concentrate on their core police duties, a situation that mandated the Special Protection Unit of the Nigeria Police Force to order all officers attached to VIPs and beats nationwide to return to their bases.

Under the new arrangement, Tinubu said VIPs requiring security protection will now need to request armed personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), rather than relying on police officers.

The Presidency explained that the move aims to boost police presence in communities, especially in remote areas where police stations are often understaffed, and citizens remain vulnerable to attacks.

But Wase wants the Commander-in-Chief to spell out the categorization of VIPs, saying there was a time when Boko Haram terrorists were found on the list of recruits in the Army and Police Force.

Abductions

More than 1,500 children have been abducted from Nigerian schools since 2014, when 276 girls were abducted during the infamous Chibok mass abduction.

On Friday, at least 300 children and staff were abducted from St Mary’s, a Catholic boarding school in Niger state, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria, which says that at least 250 remain unaccounted for.

The abduction at the school was the third to hit Nigeria in a week, forcing President Bola Tinubu to cancel his trip to the G20 summit, held in South Africa at the weekend, to deal with the crisis.

Recently, 24 schoolgirls who were abducted from their boarding school over a week ago have been released.

Armed assailants stormed the school in Nigeria’s Kebbi State on 17 November, killing two members of staff and abducting 25 students. One was able to escape soon after.

President Tinubu praised security forces for their “swift response” to the incident – although the circumstances of the girls’ release remained unclear.

Africa’s most populous nation has suffered a spate of abductions in recent years – with more than 250 children abducted from a Catholic school last Friday still missing. (CHANNELS)