THE Senate yesterday resolved to invite the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, and other security chiefs to brief it on their efforts to secure release of the Chibok school girls.
Also yesterday, the House of Representatives urged the Federal Government, especially the military, to intensify the search and rescue of the abducted girls.
The upper chamber, as part of its resolutions, hailed the #Bring Back Our Girls group for its doggedness in the campaign for release of the girls.
It asked security agencies to ensure the girls’ release.
The lawmakers arrived at these resolutions following the adoption of a motion by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) and three others, entitled: “Abduction of Chibok school girls – two years after”.
The motion elicited angry reactions from senators, who felt that two years was long enough for the government to have recovered the school girls.
Melaye lamented the plight of the girls and their parents.
He insisted that the Federal Government could not be said to have succeeded until the girls are rescued.
“We cannot succeed as a government until those girls are released. Getting back the over-200 Chibok school girls into the society is important and a must for our security agencies.”
Senate Minority leader Godswill Akpabio countered that Melaye and other All Progressives Congress (APC) members used the abduction to win last year’s general election and wondered why those, who led protests against the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan to rescue the girls, have suddenly kept quiet.
Some other senators who supported the motion, asked the Federal Government to go beyond the yearly ritual of celebrating the anniversary of the abduction of the girls.
The lawmakers said the government should ensure the girls are rescued.
The House also resolved to send a delegation to meet with the parents of the Chibok girls
The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of the prayer of a motion by a lawmaker, Asabe Bashir (APC Borno).
Members of the House at plenary yesterday lamented the non- return of the Chibok girls.
Lawmakers expressed their frustration at the inability of the government to find the girls and re-unite them with their parents.
Nnena Elendu- Ukeje, who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in a poetic rendition, noted that it was the shame of a nation for its inability to resolve the riddle.
Aishatu Dukku, who expressed concern about the girl’s safety and well being, said there was need to sustain the campaign.
The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, who spoke after other lawmakers, said the Federal Government should give a dateline for the rescue of the abducted girls.
He said: “I believe that from contributions on the floor, that time has come as an institution of government, that the executive sets targets for the security forces to ensure that we do not lose the sense of urgency that this tragic incident, which has been described here as a national shame, has brought upon this country…
“We must also commend the security forces, who are toiling day and night in an effort to bring back our girls to the embrace of their parents and loved ones.”