He noted that the country clearly ran a “faulty” security architecture that must be fixed urgently to contain the killings, else they would become serious threats to the survival of democracy.
The Speaker placed the responsibility of addressing the killings in the hands of the Nigeria Police, which he said, had the primary constitutional duty of protecting lives and property.
Dogara spoke at the National Assembly in Abuja when he met with a delegation from the Police Service Commission.
The delegation was led by the commission’s Chairman and former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro.
He noted that to reduce the burden on the police, the National Assembly over time, created other security agencies so that the former could concentrate on the core role of safeguarding lives and property of the citizenry.
He, however, expressed concern that security challenges continued to worsen, overwhelming the police in a number of instances.
Dogara added, “Unfortunately, we have run into a situation where our democracy is being threatened by sundry acts of violence, mayhem or bedlam, as you can call it.
“To be candid, when a society is filled with violence, unlawful killings and general feeling of insecurity, those things don’t just come, they are symptoms of a larger problem.
“They are indicative that something is wrong with our security architecture. And I don’t know what the problems are, but as leaders, all these symptoms call for some kind of investigation and investment in order to ensure that whatever problems are there, we will correct them.
“We can start dealing with these problems even from the recruitment process to ensure that the people we are getting into the services have the right temperament; they are teachable in a way that they can naturally be moulded as a force that can be a safeguard to our democracy.
“Our commitment to issues of security, as a House that represents the entirety of Nigeria is unshakeable. We have passed landmark legislation relating to establishment of security agencies.
“We believe that if the police can really focus on this, we will be able to get some kind of respite from the onslaught by sundry criminal groups and even terrorists in this country.”
Okiro had earlier informed the Speaker that the visit was to appeal to lawmakers to expedite action on the passage of the bill to establish the Nigeria Police Academy.
The academy is located in Wudil, Kano State.
The students will be graduating in October, this year, but the establishment bill has yet to be passed by the legislature.
Okiro expressed worries that the certificates of the students might become worthless in the absence of a law backing the existence of the academy.
