Bandits Attack 10 Communities in Niger
Bandits have attacked communities in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The attacks which commenced on Friday through Saturday and Sunday displaced hundreds of villagers across 10 communities in Kwaki district, Daily Trust learnt on Monday.
The attack is coming despite a peace deal between the state government and bandits which has led some of them to surrender their arms. The fleeing villagers are currently taking refuge in Kuta, Erena, Chukuba and other safer communities.
The State Emergency Management Agency said it has set up a temporary camp at the Central Primary School, Kuta, for displaced persons who may not have anywhere to go.
The Agency’s, Director General, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Inga, said he cannot ascertain if they are casualties in the attacks due to inaccessibility of the tertian, but added that security agencies are assisting in securing the affected communities.
He also said documentation and profiling of displaced persons is going on at the temporary camp, adding that the state government is doing all it can to take care of the IDPs.
“Based on the directives of His Excellency, palliative measures, such as food items, sleeping and sanitary materials are being provided,” he said.
Communities in Shiroro and Rafi Local Government Areas have been at the receiving end of banditry activities with consequent deaths and destruction, necessitating the launch of Exercise Ayam Akpatuma II by the Nigerian Army and a peace deal by the state government with the intent of getting the bandits lay down their arms.
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Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state has called on Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, to take decisive action against banditry and other criminal activities in the state.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Minna, the state chairman of the Congress, Comrade Yakubu Garba, lamented that ‘‘despite the huge resources said to have been spent on the issue, criminal activities are still potent in local government areas such as Shiroro and Rafi, which share borders with neighbouring Kaduna and Zamfara states’’.
He urged the state government to seek alternative means of tackling the menace, ‘‘since the measures earlier adopted are not having desired impact’’.
According to him, there is urgent need to secure the state ahead of the November 30 local government election to prevent hoodlums from taking advantage of the exercise to cause mayhem.
He noted that the banditry activities would impact on food security drive of both the state and federal government with majority fleeing rural areas due to threat to lives and properties.
He said about 16 communities are under constant attacks by bandits and cattle rustlers across the two local government areas, adding that many lives and properties have been lost to the onslaught.
Comrade Garba urged the federal government to convert the thick forest which now serves as safe haven for criminal elements to training camps for armed forces.
source: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/bandits-attack-10-communities-in-niger.html
