Laleye Dipo in Minna
Following the escalation in bandits’ attacks and the ‘Save Our Soul (SOS)’ sent to the federal and Niger State Governments by the senator representing the Niger East senatorial zone in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, land and air surveillance teams have been dispatched to the affected communities.
The state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, who made this known in a statement made available to journalists in Minna yesterday, said the latest attacks by bandits were on Kudodo, Galapai and Nakpala villages, all in Shiroro Local Government Area.
Eleven villagers were reported to have been killed by the bandits in a Saturday morning raid while 30 people were kidnapped and 300 cattle rustled.
Bello, who did not give details of the land and air surveillance in the statement signed on his behalf by his Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel Berje, believed the action would bring respite to the troubled communities.
The governor condemned the renewed banditry, blaming the situation on the vast forests which has provided hiding place for the bandits.
According to him, “Air and land surveillance by security personnel has been deployed immediately to the areas to fish and flush out the bandits terrorising the communities,” the governor said, emphasising that “the criminals were taking advantage of the vastness and difficult terrain of the forest to unleash terror on innocent people.
“The state government is fully supporting the joint security taskforce to chase the bandits out of the state, whom have also been reported to be cow rustlers,” he declared.
Bello also submitted that “the menace of insecurity in the state is made more difficult because bandits are crossing over from neighboring states of Zamfara and Kaduna into the area to create mayhem by dislodging innocent inhabitants and collecting their cows.”
He, however, called for calm in the affected communities and Shiroro LGA as a whole, and appealed to villagers to cooperate with and assist security agencies in the area by providing them with credible intelligence report that will uncover the hideout of the bandits.
Bello sympathised with victims of the recent attacks in the communities, saying measures have been taken to bring to an end the persistent raids in the state.
Senator Sani Musa had last Saturday raised an SOS to the federal and state governments, saying they should save members of his constituent from the assault of bandits.
Musa had earlier last week given some relief materials to victims of the attack at the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Kuta and Kagara.
