From John Adams, Minna
Barely 24 hours after Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello declared that Boko Haram insurgents had hoisted their flag in Kaore in Shiroro Local Government Area, 19 persons suspected to be informants to armed bandits have been arrested.
The suspected informants were picked up from two communities across Shiroro and Munya.
While five of the Informants (names withheld), among whom are two brothers and three Fulani men were arrested from Chiri village in Shiroro, 14 others were rounded up at Fuka in Munya.
They were all arrested by local vigilantes after monitoring their activities for a long time, and handed over to authorities.
Although there is no official statement from either the police or any of the security agencies in the state about the arrested suspects, Daily Sun has learnt that they have all being taken to Minna for interrogation and proper investigation to ascertain their level of involvement in the alleged crime.
Governor Bello had at a recent meeting with stakeholders on the security crisis in the state lamented that the activities of criminal informants remained one of the greatest challenges hindering anti-bandit operations in the state.
The governor said that the bandits are everywhere, including government ‘and even in this hall (the meeting venue),’ urging the people to closely monitor the activities of strangers in their various communities.
Bandits meanwhile continued their onslaught on communities in Munya on Monday evening, snatching motorcycles and rustling cattle in broad daylight as villagers watched helplessly.
The latest attacks, according to our source, took place at sabon Kabula, Zagzaga, Lagbe, Chibani and Fuka, all in Munya, where the bandits made away with about six Bajaj motorcycles and an unspecified number of cattle.
According to our source, ‘the bandits entered from Kuchi axis around 6:00 pm on motorcycles and moved towards Chibani, snatching motorcycles from village to village. They stole some cows at Lagbe village, very close to Chinani, and headed towards Fuka village.
‘After their operation, they still came back through the same route and went back to Kuchi, where they entered from without any challenges,’ the source said.