Reps Raise Alarm Over Terror Threats Against National Assembly

The House of Representatives on Tuesday raised alarm that terrorists had issued threats to bomb the National Assembly complex in Abuja.

Chairman of the House Committee on Internal Security, Garba Muhammad, disclosed this during a public hearing on a bill to establish a Legislative Security Directorate for the parliament.

The hearing also considered provisions on qualifications and service conditions for the sergeant-at-arms and other security personnel.

Muhammad said the parliament faces steady security breaches due to massive daily inflow of visitors, protesters and other categories of people.

> “Because of the huge daily influx into the parliament, criminals try to infiltrate to carry out dubious acts,” he said.

 

He lamented incidents of car and motorcycle thefts, vandalism, fake identity cards, unauthorised access and petty trading within the complex, adding that the Assembly recently received threats from terrorists to bomb the facility and from protesters to shut it down.

The lawmaker warned that easy access to lawmakers exposes them to physical threats from constituents and other visitors.

He cautioned that unchecked security lapses could disrupt legislative work, grounding plenary, oversight, budgeting and other core functions of parliament — with dire implications for democracy and national stability.

The proposed bill, he explained, seeks to adopt global best practices in securing legislative institutions and to overhaul the current security architecture of the National Assembly.

Muhammad also urged state Houses of Assembly to replicate similar security frameworks in their complexes.