From John Adams, Minna
The senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Mohammed Sani Musa, has hailed State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello over the deployment of over 1,000 security agents on an operation to rescue abducted school children, describing the move as a welcomed development.
Senator Sani Musa said the era of entering into any form of negotiations with armed bandits in the state is over, stressing that ‘it is now time to take the fight to the bandits because any crime without resistance will never stop.’
The senator in a statement in Minna on Tuesday pointed out that, with the bold and courageous decision by the governor, ‘I am optimistic that the end to Banditry in the state will soon be the thing of the past and the people can live their normal lives.’
The lawmaker, whose constituency has been under siege from armed bandits in the last five years, with attendant loss of lives and destruction of property, said: ‘I am the happiest person today because of this landmark move by the governor, the government can not continue to fold its hands and watch a group of criminals holding the entire state hostage.
‘I agreed with the governor’s submissions that the bandits have almost succeeded in forcing the people of the state to change their lives style. Our children can not go to school, farmers can not go to the farms, people can not travel freely on our roads, this not acceptable.’
He appealed to all well-meaning people of the state, including traditional and religious leaders, community leaders and other stakeholders in the business of security to support this move by the governor to ensure that the war against these enemies of the people is won.
According to him, ‘if we continue to talk about collateral damages and refusing to take action, these criminals will continue to take advantage of it and they will continue to unleash terror on the people, we must go after them.’
Senator Musa also commended the governor for ruling out the payment of monetary ransom to kidnappers in the state, rather he suggested that such money should be used to support and motivate the security agencies to be able to do their job well, pointing out that ‘these bandits use this ransom money to acquire weapons and equip themselves and become very powerful.’
The senator, who described the abduction of the school children as a crime against humanity, appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari to assist the state government in order to win the war against the armed bandits in the state.