The Senate has launched a full-scale investigation into the management of the Safe School Fund following the abduction of 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
The incident, which also claimed the life of the school’s vice-principal and left the principal injured, has intensified public outrage over the recurring vulnerability of schools despite significant federal allocations for safety infrastructure.
At plenary yesterday, lawmakers condemned the attack and urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to authorise the recruitment of at least 100,000 additional military personnel to reinforce the country’s overstretched security agencies.
The Senate also set up an ad hoc committee—drawing members from its Committees on Finance, Education, Defence, Army and Navy, to examine the funding, implementation, expenditure, and overall performance of the Safe School Programme.
Leading the motion, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) described Nigeria’s insecurity as alarming and called for a deliberate expansion of the armed forces.
“I urge the President and the armed forces to recruit an additional 100,000 military personnel. Beyond strengthening security, this recruitment will create jobs for Nigerian youths,” Oshiomhole said.
He questioned why schools remain soft targets despite substantial budgetary provisions for their protection.
“People have turned our security into a business. We must ask: What happened to the money earmarked for the Safe School Programme?” he added, calling for the use of modern tracking technology to combat criminal groups.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio acknowledged the strain on security agencies but stressed the need for coordinated national action.
“No country is crime-free, not even the United States,” Akpabio said. “But we must take decisions that reduce crime to the barest minimum.”
He commiserated with the families of the victims and urged Nigerians with credible information to assist in rescuing the abducted girls. A minute’s silence was also observed in honour of the slain vice-principal and other victims.
Senator Yusuf Haruna Abdullahi (APC, Kebbi South), who sponsored the motion, described the incident as “a slap in the face of the nation,” recounting how terrorists stormed the school despite minimal police presence.
He noted that a similar incident occurred in 2022, with victims spending four years in captivity before being freed. He warned that repeated school attacks threaten the future of formal education in affected communities.
Other lawmakers, including Senators Sani Musa, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Francis Fadahunsi and Asuquo Ekpeyong, called for urgent rescue efforts, better coordination among security agencies, enhanced intelligence gathering, and a united, non-partisan approach to tackling insecurity.
They described the Kebbi attack as a wake-up call, stressing that no society can claim progress if it fails to protect its children.
As the Senate begins its probe into the Safe School Fund, Nigerians await decisive measures to end the cycle of violent school abductions and unkept government assurances.
