Hyacinth Chinweuba
Chairman North Central Governors’ Forum and Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello has said that drastic actions are needed to stop armed bandits as amnesty offered them has failed.
In a statement by Mary Noel-Berje, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Niger State, said Governor Abubakar Sani Bello stated this when he interacted with Media Practitioners shortly after a meeting with COVID-19 Taskforce Committee in Niger State and other stakeholders at the Government House, Minna.
“It has become clear and obvious that the amnesty programme for some of the bandits is not working”, he stated.
He said government must assert itself to its responsibility by using whatever means available to end the bandits nefarious activities as they have tolerated their recklessness for a long time now.
According to him, all civilised approach engaged by the government, even providing the bandits with a way of life to stop their activities has hit the rock.
The Chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum who decried the way and manner the bandits have continued to unleash mayhem on the Communities noted that the objective of seeing banditry end and people provided with a safe environment for normal and economic life to thrive is not in sight as banditry is continually increasing with perpetrators denying the locals access to their farms due to incessant attacks and cattle rustling.
This he says if not checked and stopped, will lead to severe consequences…
“The danger here is that the bandits have refused to let our local people, our farmers to operate…we are heading towards famine and starvation”, he said.
He said that a teleconference is being organized with the governors of Niger, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto and Katsina States that share common boundaries and are being terrorized by bandits to review stands and come up with a policy on how best to end bandits havoc within the shortest possible time…