BY ILIYASU GARBA MINNA – Various communities that were attacked and chased out of their villages in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State by suspected bandits have expressed dismay over the neglect of their plight by the state government.
Eighteen villages were attacked last Tuesday and Wednesday, with the suspected bandits raping women and carting away with their livestock and valuable properties.
The villages attacked are Natsira, Kukoki, Hana Wanna, Durimi,Farar Kasa, Baduku ,Ogu, Lugga Gidan Makeri, Makangara, Wayam, Tashan Dogo Supama, Kadaga, Rafin Gora, Pangu Gari and Durumi.
The affected villagers that are currently taking refuge in Tegina and Kagara rejected relief materials from the Niger state government instead demand that government should secure their settlements.
A spokesman of the IDP in Kagara, Mahmud Wayam said that since they were ransacked by the bandits, no government official visited or commiserated with them but merely took raw food to them without hearing their problems.
He said; “We rejected the food items because it is not our immediate concern for now. We want to go back to our locality and take care of our farms as some are due for harvest in order to guarantee our continues survival elsewhere.”
In the meantime, Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello has condemned the renewed armed banditry attacks on some communities in Shiroro and Rafi Local Government Areas of the state.
A statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs. Mary Noel Berje, expressed concern over the unfortunate attacks adding that security operatives have been mandated to carry out a comprehensive manhunt on the criminals.
Sani-Bello said the military would utilise the vast forest that serves as hideout of the bandits along the Niger state boarder with Kaduna and Kebbi states by establishing a formation or a training camp to checkmate the activities of the bandits.
The governor said the state government is also reviewing security strategies along the Rafi Local Government axis adding that deployment of the joint security taskforce will be intensified.
He further said that he has directed the State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) to immediately assist the internally displaced persons stationed in Kagara while the joint security taskforce restores normalcy in their communities.
Sani-Bello however expressed concern over the way and manner the state’s security challenge is been overblown by the media and thereby cautioned media practitioners against writing opinionated reports that makes the state looks ungovernable owing to insecurity.
