Nigeria Senate Ends Recess Early Over Insecurity

Nigeria’s Senate issued an emergency recall notice on June 15, signed by Clerk Emmanuel Odo on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, directing all senators to reconvene in Abuja on Tuesday, June 23, at 11 a.m. The session, cutting short a recess that was set to run until July 7, is intended to address the country’s escalating insecurity, including terrorism, banditry, kidnappings and the ongoing abductions of schoolchildren in Oyo and Borno states.

The recall follows President Bola Tinubu’s recent remarks that more than 13,000 terrorists had been neutralised in the past year and that terror‑related deaths had fallen 81 % since 2015, while acknowledging that the kidnapping crisis persists. Lawmakers are also expected to debate a constitutional amendment to create state police forces, shifting policing powers from the Exclusive to the Concurrent Legislative List by amending sections 197, 214 and 215 of the 1999 Constitution.

The emergency plenary aims to translate public concern into legislative action to improve security, protect markets, schools and farms, and potentially reshape Nigeria’s policing structure.