John Adams Minna
Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Mohammed Sani Musa, has described as worrisome the continued attacks on some communities in Niger State by armed bandits that have made lives miserable to the people in the last three months.
The Senator, who said his constituency has being under siege from the bandits, which had led to the death of over 80 people, over 100 wounded and about 1,000 others rendered homeless, called on the Federal Government to “as a matter of urgency and national importance, dispatch the military to tackle the renewed spate of attacks on these communities.”
Over 50 communities across Rafi, Shiroro and Munya local government areas of the state are currently under siege from armed bandits, who have continued to terrorized people with reckless abandoned.
Sani said yesterday that if the current situation is not immediately brought under control by deploying the military to the area, it will lead to humanitarian crisis, stressing: “At the moment, the people are already running out of food, water and other essential things at their temporary camp because they escaped from the bandits onslaught without taking anything with them.”
While commending the effort of the police so far, he called for a renewed vigour on the part of other security agencies in their fight against banditry in the state.
Sani urged the Commissioner of Police and other security chiefs to come together and form a special joint taskforce that would strengthen operations in the communities under siege.
“Right now, the displaced communities have nowhere to go; they have lost everything. The situation is more worrisome because this is planting season and they have been forced to leave their homes and farms.”