By Laleye Dipo in Minna
The Nigerian military has announced its readiness to carry out a major operation against kidnappers and other undesirable elements in the Kwangai forests of Niger State.
The Former Niger Police Commissioner, Mr. Adamu Usman, disclosed this while speaking at a send forth organised in his honour by the Niger State Police Command following his elevation to the rank of an Assistant Inspector General of Police.
Usman, who said his major regret in his two year stint in Niger State was the inability of the command to flush out bandits from the different forests in the state.
He added that “my sadness is that I could not clear the forests of bandits before leaving, but my brother in the Military is moving to Kwangai forest to do what I could not do.
“I am saddened by my inability to destroy the hideouts of bandits in the forest wreaking havoc in parts of the state.”
He observed that the state is facing a lot of security challenges like banditry and kidnapping, adding that “crime and criminality are also on-going and there is nothing you can do to just wipe them away at once, you just have to mitigate the challenge and that is what we have been doing and this will continue whether I am here or not here.”
Usman also observed that the country is presently going through a lot of security challenges, stressing that “the force is trying it’s best to mitigate it.
“What we are committed and determined to fight bandits, kidnapping and other criminalities confronting our nation.”
In a message to the ceremony, the Niger State Governor, Mr. Abubakar Sani Bello, reiterated the commitment of his administration to synergise with and support police in the task of tackling the security challenges facing the state.
Speaking through the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, Bello described AIG Usman as a principled but flexible leader, “who is unbendable when an action cannot be justified, but bendable, if such action can be justified.”
