Sunday Aborisade
The Senate, yesterday, alerted the Nigerian military that terrorists’ enclaves had been identified in communities within three local government areas of Kwara and Niger States.
The upper chamber of the National Assembly, therefore, urged the military to carry out a comprehensive onslaught against bandits and criminal elements within Kainji Lake National Park and the identified communities.
The names of communities given by the chamber included Kaiama, Karonzi-Yashikira in Baruten local government as well as Wawa and Babanna areas in Niger State.
These formed part of resolutions reached by the Senate after it considered a motion on the “worsening insecurity in Kainji Lake National Park and existential threat to communities in Kaima, Baruten and Borgu Local Government in Kwara and Miger States.”
The motion was sponsored by Senator Sadiq Sulieman Umar (Kwara North), and Co-sponsored by the Deputy Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger North).
In his presentation, Umar noted that, “Kidnapping and other forms of criminality are becoming a recurrent decimal in communities close to Kainji Lake National Park particularly Nanu. Nuku, Woro, Kale in Kaiama and Yashikira in Baruten Local Government of Kwara State and some part of Borgu Local Government in Niger State.
“This has led to people living in perpetual fear of either being kidnapped and or Killed by kidnappers suspected to be armed bandits. The Kainji Lake National Park covers an area of about 5,341km square with deep forest Vegetation. This park which is reserved for tourism is becoming fort-filed in harboring bandits and other forms of criminals.”
Also, he noted that rangers meant to man the park could no longer protect the forest reserve as they had lost control of the park to terrorist, even as he expressed worry that people living in these communities were predominantly farmers and their means of livelihood was threatened by the activities of these criminals.
“Many are leaving their villages and farms to seek refuge in the towns that will soon be threatened as well if nothing is done about this insecurity situation. In fact, some communities have started paying the criminals some sort of tax to be allowed to stay safe.”
The Senate, in its resolutions, mandated the Committees on Defence; Finance and National Planning to jointly interface with the Ministry of Defence to determine status of the establishment and funding of Army Barrack in Kaiama and Forward Operation Base (FOB) in Babanna in Kwara and Niger States.
It urged the military authorities to carry out a comprehensive onslaught against bandits and other criminal elements within Kainji Lake National Park, especially Kaiama, Karonzi -Yashikira in Baruten local government, and Wawa and Babanna areas in Niger state.
The chamber also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to send relief materials to victims in the affected communities.
