The state of emergency in three northeastern states has been prolonged by six months.
The Nigerian Senate yesterday, November 7, 2013, discussed and approved President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for the extension by six months of the current state of emergency in three northeastern states, Thisday newspaper reported. Emergency rule was declared six months ago in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States following an upsurge in Boko Haram militant activities.
The Sun newspaper recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan made the renewal request on the same day as the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North submitted its report. Reacting to the report submitted on November 6, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan rejected the proposal to compensate victims of Boko Haram attacks, saying other ways of assisting them will be sought.
In separate letters to the Senate and the House of Representatives, the President asked the lawmakers to review the period of the emergency he declared last May 14, which ends on November 12, 2013. The 1999 Constitution states that the proclamation of a state of emergency elapses after a period of six months, except extended by Parliament.
In his letter, President Jonathan explained that although the existing emergency rule had worked, there were still serious threats to security of lives and property in the affected three states, The Guardian newspaper said. Reacting to the request for the extension of emergency rule, the Adamawa State government described the move as unfair. A spokesman for the state government, Ahmad Sajoh, said there was no condition to warrant the declaration in the first instance, The Guardian said.
He said the state government considered the latest move by President Jonathan as “an affront to the people of the state and a negative reward for their endurance and co-operation so far.” He therefore called on the National Assembly to carefully review the situation on ground and treat each of the affected states on its merit.
