Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has raised the alarm over the influx of bandits fleeing security offensives in neighbouring Plateau State into some parts of the state.
He disclosed this during the expanded security meeting in Lafia, the state capital.
According to him, intelligence provided by security operatives identified some bandits who fled troubled areas in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, around Mangar and Ambaka areas, in Wamba Local Government Area, as well as in Lafia East development area of Nasarawa State.
Wamba Local Government Area shares a border with Plateau State.
“The security crisis recently around Mangu Local Government Area in Plateau State while it’s still ongoing, has led to a lot of migration of people with some of those bandits crossing into our state mostly from Mangu and Bokkos area,” the governor said.
Governor Sule also expressed concern over the movement of herders into the border area between Keana local government area of the state and Guma in Benue State, the notorious crisis point which had led to loss of lives on both herders and Tiv sides as a result of incessant clashes.
He said although the herders are moving into the area for grazing purposes, conflict between the two ethnic groups in the area in the past made the influx of herders a cause for concern.
“Recently, there has been movement of herders to part of Keana, this may not pose a big security challenge because they are moving to grazing areas, unfortunately those areas are also problematic because they are at the border between Keana and Guma Local Government Area in Benue State.
“It will be a recipe for problems down the line and around the Tunga area which is our major concern,” he pointed out.
The governor equally decried the proliferation of illegal production of small arms and ammunition in the state, which he said posed a serious security threat in the state.
A number of suspected gun runners from Plateau, Katsina and Taraba had been arrested by the state police command.
The commissioner of police in the state, Mr. Maiyaki Mohammed-Baba Maiyaki, had told journalists in May that four of the suspected gunrunners from Katsina State were arrested with 400 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, while other suspects who came to the state from Plateau to buy three AK-47 raffles in Asakyo community in Lafia East Development Area were also nabbed.
He said the gunrunners from Taraba have been operating through Obi and Awe local government areas of the state.
Recall that the zonal coordinator of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons had also recently raised concern over the production of small arms in the state.
“It’s one of the things that we will discuss today because it has brought out a lot of concerns about our state. The concern is mostly about the production of small arms and ammunition within the state.
“They have given us the list of all those producing these weapons here in Nasarawa State, and the number is alarming. We have to discuss it and find a way out of it. Some of them are actually at our backyard. Our traditional rulers are not even aware of what is happening. But I am happy with the intelligence report at our disposal, with the security operatives able to communicate with some of these people,” Governor Sule said.
He also said the activities of lithium miners are also causing upheavals in Nassarawa Local Government Area of the state, where the products were discovered in commercial quantities.
