By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
The Senate has ordered the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to pay ₦200 million compensation to a family whose two-year-old son was killed and his one-year-old brother injured during a botched operation by its operatives.
The lawmakers also directed the agency to immediately fly the surviving child abroad for urgent medical attention to save his sight.
The resolution followed the consideration of a petition filed by the family before the Senate Committee on Public Petitions, Ethics and Privileges.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Legislative Compliance, Senator Garba Musa Maidoki (Kebbi South), while briefing journalists after a heated session on Thursday, described the incident as “a national tragedy that must not be swept under the carpet.”
> “A two-year-old and a one-year-old — both victims of a misfired NDLEA operation — speak to the conscience of this nation. This is not the Nigeria we dreamt of,” Maidoki said.
Lawmakers condemned what they described as “reckless disregard for human life” by NDLEA operatives, saying such acts of impunity were becoming too frequent among security agencies.
The Senate further directed that the ₦200 million compensation be paid from the Service-Wide Vote since it was not captured in the agency’s 2025 budget.
One visibly angry senato and “We cannot continue to kill our own children and call it collateral damage. The NDLEA must answer for this.”
However, weeks after the Senate’s decision, the family of the victims said they had yet to receive any word or visit from the agency, even as the injured child’s condition continues to deteriorate.
“NDLEA has not spoken to us. Our child’s condition is getting worse by the day,” the mother of the victims lamented.
The Senate has therefore summoned the leadership of the NDLEA to appear on October 20 to explain its failure to comply with the resolution.
Senator Maidoki warned that the Upper Chamber would not tolerate disobedience to its resolutions, noting that the case had become a test of the nation’s moral conscience.
“Nobody is above the law. The NDLEA is a creation of the law, the Senate is a creation of the law, and even the President derives his authority from the law. The law will take its course,” he said.
The committee vowed to monitor the agency’s response closely to ensure full compliance and accountability.
Lawmakers have also resolved to brief Senate President Godswill Akpabio for onward transmission of the report to President Bola Tinubu for executive action.
Several senators who spoke at the session described the tragedy as avoidable and a “pathetic reflection” of law enforcement recklessness in the country.
“It is shameful,” one lawmaker said. “We must stop turning our guns against our children. This is not enforcement, it is lawlessness.”
As the NDLEA faces mounting public anger and legislative pressure, Nigerians are demanding justice for the slain child and urgent medical care for his brother, who is still battling to save his eye.