70% of terrorists destabilising Nigeria are foreigners

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, says more than 70 per cent of those destabilising Nigeria’s security are foreigners.

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Mr Akpabio said this during Thursday’s plenary while responding to criticism of his position on a bill seeking to decriminalise attempted suicide, which passed second reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

The bill seeks to decriminalise attempted suicide and establish a legal framework for suicide prevention, treatment and support for survivors.

It also seeks to address the conflict between existing criminal laws that punish attempted suicide and the National Mental Health Act, which recognises the need for medical intervention in mental health emergencies.

Since the bill passed second reading, some critics have accused Mr Akpabio of bias against Islam, particularly over his insistence that people found culpable of attempting suicide should be jailed.

The critics argue that his position could be directed at suicide bombers and terrorists who identify as Muslims and claim to be fighting in the cause of their religion.

Responding to the criticism, Mr Akpabio denied being biased against any religion, describing the attacks on him as politically motivated and intended to undermine his reputation as the contest for the Senate presidency of the 11th National Assembly approaches.

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He argued that neither Islam nor Christianity encourages terrorism, insisting that those who engage in such acts should not be identified with any religion.

“I want you to know that terrorists are not Muslims. Terrorists are not Christians. Terrorists are human beings who believe in taking their lives and the lives of others.

“Many states of this federation are not interested in suicide bombing, but there are some people that, out of drugs or out of pecuniary reasons, undertake suicide bombings. Those ones do not belong to any religion,” he said.

Mr Akpabio said Islam prohibits suicide and the killing of others, adding that the Quran warns against taking one’s own life.

“The Muslim religion that I know forbids suicide. It forbids killing. The Muslim religion that I know does not even allow somebody to take his own life. And if you look at the Quran, the Quran prohibits suicide. It also says that if you commit suicide, you will not enter into paradise.

“So if we are saying that if you kill, that you have 14 or 7 or 70 virgins waiting for you in paradise, you cannot even enter paradise if you commit suicide,” he said.

The senate president accused his critics of deliberately misinterpreting his position and said most of those destabilising Nigeria were not Nigerians.

“So people who are misinterpreting what we discuss here, I just want them to know that most of those people, more than 70 per cent, are not Nigerians, those who are destabilising the security of this country. You need to know that,” he said.

He added that lawmakers could not encourage young people to take their own lives, regardless of the circumstances.

“And so when they come here, there is no way we can sit as fathers and mothers and then encourage our children to go and commit suicide. Because even I’m a Catholic, in the Catholic religion and in Christianity, suicide is also forbidden,” he said.

Mr Akpabio noted that attempted suicide remains a criminal offence under Nigeria’s Penal Code and Criminal Code, arguing that the proposed legislation seeks to modernise the law by distinguishing between people experiencing mental health challenges and those who deliberately attempt suicide while mentally sound.

“The young people who are talking that it should not be a criminal offence are being modern, because you have to distinguish between suicide committed by people who are mentally disturbed and suicide intentionally committed by people who are physically sound,” he said.

Mr Akpabio urged commentators to study Senate proceedings and resolutions carefully before analysing them, insisting that the National Assembly was committed to making laws that serve the country’s interests.

He also rejected the suggestion that people who carry out suicide bombings in the hope of entering paradise could achieve that objective.

“So anybody that thinks that he’s committing suicide by killing others because he wants to go to heaven and see virgins, there will be no virgins for you because the religion already says that if you commit suicide, you cannot go to that heaven. You cannot go to that paradise,” he said.

The senate president described the criticism as politically motivated, arguing that lawmakers were entitled to disagree during debates and that public commentary should take the chamber’s final decisions into account.

“So when people sit down in panels to dissect and discuss, I know this is a politically charged period, but I don’t like the idea of people sitting down on television and trying to misinterpret what we discuss here in the Senate. We want to make the best laws. So we are bound to oppose each other and we are also bound to support each other.

“No matter the discussion, please take the final decision of the Senate into consideration. Don’t go and sit down in panels and try to do politically motivated discussions,” he said.

Mr Akpabio also referenced his record of supporting Muslims and Christians as evidence that he does not discriminate against either faith.

He said he sponsored thousands of Muslims on pilgrimage while serving as governor and also supported Christians travelling to holy sites in Rome and Jerusalem.

“The Senate President believes strongly in the Christian religion and believes strongly in the Muslim religion. Even as a governor, I sponsor 5,800 Muslims to the Holy Land, and I know I sponsor more than 10,000 Christians to also go to Rome and also go to Jerusalem.

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“Go and look at the people working for me. My ADC for 19 years is a Muslim. I don’t recognise him as a Muslim. I recognise him as a brother. He’s from Bauchi State. The same thing with my CSO.

“So come and see the number of people working for me, and you’ll see that more than 65 per cent of them are Muslims. There’s no way I would talk down on Muslim religion,” he said.

Terrorism in Nigeria

Nigeria has battled terrorism and other forms of insecurity for more than a decade, particularly in the North-east, where Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have killed thousands of people, displaced millions and destroyed communities.

The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009 and escalated into a major security crisis, with attacks on civilians, military formations, schools and places of worship. The conflict has spread beyond Nigeria’s borders into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting regional military operations against the insurgents.

In addition to the insurgency in the North-east, parts of north-western and north-central Nigeria have experienced persistent attacks by armed groups, commonly described as bandits, as well as kidnappings for ransom and communal violence. These overlapping security crises have resulted in deaths, mass displacement, destruction of property and disruptions to farming and other economic activities.

Nigeria has also experienced suicide bombings, particularly during the height of the Boko Haram insurgency. Such attacks have targeted crowded public spaces, including markets, mosques, churches and transport hubs, causing civilian casualties and deepening fears among residents.

Despite military operations and other security interventions by successive governments, insurgent groups continue to pose a threat in parts of the country. The violence has also raised concerns about the movement of armed groups across porous borders in the Lake Chad region and the wider Sahel.