Niger Assembly threatens to suspend legislative activities if security fails

By : Bala Yahaya

Date: 26 November 2025 8:38pm WAT

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Niger State House of Assembly

Niger State House of Assembly

Niger State House of Assembly has threatened that it may shut down legislative activities if the current security challenges in the state are not swiftly tackled, lamenting that the state is under siege from bandits and other terrorist gangs.

The lawmakers also called for the rescue of the kidnapped students from St. Mary’s Catholic Missionary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Council, stressing that the security situation has become critically alarming.

The assembly decision follows a motion of urgent public importance brought forward by the legislator representing Agwara constituency, Hon. Mohammed Nura Agwara, who described the abduction of the students as tragic and worrisome.

The lawmakers had unanimously condemned the abduction of innocent students that occurred last Friday, 21st November 2025, at St. Mary’s Catholic Missionary School, saying that the situation is escalating beyond control.

Earlier, the Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, who presided over the session, noted that the House would not hesitate to halt legislative business entirely until concrete steps are taken to improve the security situation in the state.

“Sarkindaji added, ‘Let us not pretend about the current situation. The state is now in the eyes of the world due to security challenges, and investors are beginning to pull out, while contractors handling various road projects have deserted their sites.’” He emphasised.

“According to him, ‘The current security situation has undermined all efforts by the state government to transform the state, saying that immediate actions are essential; otherwise, we may be forced to shut down legislative operations since we represent the people.’”

The Speaker frowned that over 50 communities, including his own political ward, have been displaced from their ancestral homes and abandoned their farms within Mariga Constituency.

“In Abdulmalik’s words: ‘Farmers who used to harvest hundreds of bags of grains are now begging for food. We can no longer stay silent as representatives of the people.’” He maintained.

“It is time to set aside our differences and confront these challenges head-on. If schools and markets can be shut down due to insecurity, then shutting down legislative business is also justified until the situation improves,” he declared.

He, however, urged the deployment of troops to key areas identified as bandit routes across the state, criticising the lack of action despite numerous appeals by Governor Umaru Mohammed Bago for security deployment.

“These dangerous routes, known to security forces, are the only pathways the bandits use for operations. Despite this knowledge, nothing has been done over time.”

“I am confident that the abducted students will be moved through these same routes, likely to Zamfara, as they have no other routes, but nothing has been done about it,” Sarkindaji wondered.

The House had unanimously adopted a four-point resolution: urging the federal government to mobilise all available resources for the immediate rescue of the abducted students, calling for troop deployment to strategic locations and bandit routes, and pledging to collaborate with the federal lawmakers from the state to present the resolutions at the National Assembly.

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