Senate approves extension of emergency rule
The senate has approved the request of President Goodluck Jonathan for a six-month extension of the state of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.
The Senate had on May 15 postponed the debate so that it could have wide consultations with various stakeholders.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, had said the nature of the conflict made it mandatory for them to have adequate consultations before deciding whether to approve it or not.
However, he assured Nigerians that the Senate would only do what will protect “their interest”.
The House of Representatives gave consent to the extension of the rule on May 15; and with this approval by the Senate, the three states affected would be experiencing emergency rule for a total of 18 months.
Boko Haram — the group against which the state of emerncy was conceived — has carried out gun and bomb attacks in the northeast and Abuja, particularly, killing more than 1,500 since 2009, according to Human Rights Watch.
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