TheCable

Lawmakers in the Kogi state house of assembly have raised concerns over the security situation at the complex.

The legislators said the assembly complex lacked the essential security measures and could be overrun in the case of an attack.

At Tuesday’s plenary session, Muktar Bajeh, the majority leader, moved a motion demanding that in the interim the lawmakers should “stagger” their sittings until security is improved at the complex.

According to NAN, Bajeh said spacing the sittings is necessary to avoid the lawmakers falling victim to attacks by hoodlums.

“The security situation in Nigeria and Kogi of today demands that we should approach the state government to help improve the security situation of our assembly complex,” the legislator said.

“Though it’s a known fact that governor Yahaya Bello stands tall among his equals in terms of securing the state, we want his administration to do more in view of the current security challenges in the country.

“I, hereby, suggest that in view of the security challenges, we should stagger our sittings as a proactive measure until the government helps to improve the security of the assembly complex.”

Speaking in support of the motion, Umar Isah-Tanimu, an APC lawmaker, said the complex’s location on the outskirts of Lokoja metropolis, low fence and lack of security cameras portend danger.

“The government should help raise the fence and equally provide the complex with CCTV cameras and a security post that will help guarantee the safety of lawmakers and the assembly’s staffers,” Isah-Tanimu said.

In his remarks, Matthew Kolawale, speaker of the house, while approving the motion, lamented that the road leading to the assembly is in bad shape.

“If you take a look at the agencies along the bad road, you will discover they are majorly federal government’s including the federal high court, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), West African Examination Council, and many others including our state high court,” he said.

“Under normal circumstances, the journey from the zone 8 junction to this complex should take nothing more than five minutes, but today it took me 27 minutes to get here.

“Unfortunately, most of our security personnel are not armed; so we are calling on the government to increase the security personnel as well as to equip them properly.

“Again, as part of security measures, we should be conscious of those who enter the complex by introducing staff and visitors tags for easy identification.”