THE House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, re-deploy sophisticated security scanners at the various military checkpoints at all the entry routes to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Consequently, the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff have been asked to ensure the deployment of such scanners with the capacity for long-range coded-aperture imaging to the military checkpoints at the entry points.
Also, the House also mandated its Committee on National Security, which is being expected to be constituted soon, to monitor the development and report back to the House within three weeks.
The resolution was the fallout of a motion sponsored by Blessing Nsiegbe who told the House that the resolve to avoid the escalation of terrorists attacks in Abuja and its environs after the twin bomb blasts in Nyanya in April last year led to the introduction of military checkpoints at every entry route to the nation’s capital.
While expressing regrets over the recent bomb blasts at Nyanya and Kuje, which occurred on October 2 that claimed several lives and left many people injured, she said in view of the fact that the insurgents deploy the use of high caliber Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), there was need to deploy scanners that could detect them from afar.
According to the lawmaker, following the recent bomb attacks, many residents are living in panic about the security situation in the FCT, a development she said called for urgent action.
Nsiegbe’s motion was unanimously adopted by the House through voice votes.
