…Four Committees unite in rare joint missions as insecurity deepens across North Central
By Joy Odor, Abuja
The Nigerian Senate has ordered a sweeping investigation into the latest wave of killings in Benue and Kwara States, deploying a powerful joint committee to the crisis zones in what it calls a “no-holds-barred” fact-finding mission to uncover the masterminds behind the attacks and craft urgent security remedies.
The resolution followed a closed-door session on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, and marks one of the Senate’s most coordinated interventions in Nigeria’s escalating rural violence.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Mallam-Madori Abdulhamid (Jigawa North-East), disclosed the plan while addressing journalists after the meeting, saying the mission was a direct mandate from plenary to “unearth the root causes of the killings and propose decisive security actions.”
“The Senate mandated us to go and assess what happened in Benue and Kwara. In the case of Kwara, the Army is not involved, so three committees—Defence, Police, and National Security and Intelligence, will handle that. We will visit the victims, sympathise with affected communities, examine what really happened and report back to the Senate,” Abdulhamid stated.
According to him, the four strategic committees Defence, Army, Police Affairs, and National Security and Intelligence have joined forces to investigate the attacks, with three senators from each committee expected to embark on the field visit alongside their Secretariat.
The joint delegation will meet with community leaders, victims, security agencies, and state officials in both states to assess the breakdown of law and order and recommend preventive strategies to halt further bloodshed.
Abdulhamid also assured that the recent reshuffle in Nigeria’s military hierarchy would not derail the investigation.
“The change in service chiefs will not affect anything. This is a constitutional duty. We are doing this on behalf of Nigerians, and security agencies are answerable to the Senate,” he emphasized.
While refusing to confirm whether immediate relief materials will be dispatched to the affected communities, Abdulhamid hinted that support for victims was inevitable after the committee’s assessment report.
“Definitely, there must be support for victims,” he said, noting that the Senate’s eventual recommendations would address both humanitarian relief and long-term peacebuilding.
The probe underscores mounting concern within the National Assembly over rising insecurity in Nigeria’s North Central region, where persistent clashes between herders, farmers, and armed groups have continued to claim lives despite repeated government interventions.
