Insecurity: Despite ‘overwhelming’ attacks, Gov. Sani Bello vows not to negotiate with Bandits in Niger
Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, said on Wednesday he would not enter into any form of negotiation with the bandits terrorising the state because they do not respect agreements.
He spoke to reporters after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, on the rising insecurity and infrastructural decay in the state, saying he stopped the option of negotiation with the criminals because they don’t keep to any agreement adding that he had once reluctantly negotiated with the bandits which ended without producing any positive result.
Read Also:
Bello, who said the state was experiencing influx of bandits who enter into the state through the Benin Republic border, added that “the bandits are Fulanis that have no one to control them even their parents.”
He said that the menace of bandits in the state had become a source of worry to the government.
The governor, while saying that the local security had been helpful in curtailing the activities of the criminals, revealed that the bandits were being invited by some locals.
“We are going to be ruthless with village heads found wanting in this regard. We arrested bandits from Sudan and Mali and they were recruited through social media,” he said.
He added that the bandits come to the state through the neighbouring Kaduna and Katsina states.
