Insecurity: Insurgency, Banditry And Kidnapping For Ransom Getting Worse In Recent Years – Abiodun

 By Suleiman Umaru

When  Nuhu Ribadu, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, rtd,  and former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,  and now National Security Adviser, NSA, to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, revealed that some  arrowheads of the Bandits Group in the north western states of Kaduna, Katsina, former President Muhammadu Buhari  Buhari home state, Zamfara and  Sokoto and Kebbi, had  been killed by Nigeria soldiers  many had expected the crisis in the  region to be over. Fare from it.

The Bandists Group Kingpins who were said to have been killed by the Nigerian troops at different battle fronts between Katsina a, Katsina and Zamfara states nclude Sani Dangote, Isiyaku Boderi, Ali Kawaje  and  Kachalla Damina.

Bello Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara state and now minister of state, Defense, may have given an insight why Banditry has remained a sore point in the north western states of Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, his home state, Sokoto and the north central state of Niger, a state had produced Gen. Ibrahim Babangida  a former Nigerian  military President and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, an ex-Head of state.

The minister may have shocked Nigerians when he disclosed recently that the banditry had raged on in the listed northern states   because of the proliferation   of both light and heavy weapons, with a high nflux  of bandits  from the neighbouring Republic of Niger, Mali  and Chad.

The former Zamfara state governor had said that the situation had been made worse because there are almost 100 different Bandit camps in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger, stressing that each camp has its own leader with over 300 gun-trotting Bandits loyalists.  The message was very clear that when one bandit leader is killed in any of the camps, there is always a replacement to sustain the tempo of banditry and killing in the region.

On Saturday, June 22, 2024,   seven persons were said to have been killed in Mai abino village in Dam Musa Local Government Area of Katsina state.  Worried by the insecurity ravaging  the north western geopolitical region  and other parts  of Nigeria may have  informed why the Nigerian President  who had said  on Monday, June 24, 2024, in the city of Katsina that  through  the various  operations of Operation  Hadin Kai  targeting the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHram and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP in the north eaten states of Borno and Yobe, terrorism will not be held too long in the region.  He had said the activities of the Operation Safe Haven in the north western region and the north central state of Niger was also yielding results.

Despite claims by the former Lagos state governor  that ‘’through enhanced  border security  and intelligence capabilities,  the Nigerian military  have  disrupted  and dismantled  the criminal networks  of the terrorists in the Borno , Yobe states and Banditry in the north western states of Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi and the north central state of Niger’’the worry of many  was that the security challenges in the country is getting worse on a daily basis’’.

Gov. Abiodun: laments high level of insecurity in the country

Dapo Abiodun, governor of south western state of Ogun, had aid that the security situation in the country, particular, in the north , has worsened  in recent years  with kidnapping  for ransom among other crimes making headlines in major Newspapers across the  country.

This is in spite of the fact that the Operation Hadin Kai troops in Borno , Yobe and Operation Safe Haven troops in Kaduna and other north western states, including the north central state of Niger are giving the insurgents and Bandits Group   fighters a battle of their lives.

.  The kidnapping of Haruna  Mhelia, a  High Court Judge,  together with his wife , driver and orderly  along the Biu-Maiduguri road on Friday, June 21, 2024, which had been confirmed by the Borno state Police Command  speaks volume.  The abductees were said to have been taken into the Sambisa Forest by the kippers.

Prior to the kidnap of the High Court Juge together with his wife,, drive and orderly  on the link road  between  the southern part of Borno  and other parts of the north eastern state,  that there had been reports   that such incidents  are common  in the area . Only recently BokoHaram fighters were said to have laid ambush on military vehicles resulting in the alleged death of a Lieteunant and injuries to other soldiers.

Saiad Abuabakar: Sultan of okoto

 With the high level of insecurity in the northern states of Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger , Borno and Yobe sttes,   Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, a  Brig. General and Sultan of Sokoto, who had participated  at the the recent  north west  Peace and Security  Summit  in Kaduna, which had in attendance,  Vice President Kashim Shettima, Buhari, a former Katsina state born Nigerian President  and the seven north western region governors  among others would not agree with the Nigerian government that it is making a headway in restoring normalcy in the northern region. 

The revered Sultan of Sokoto who could not hide his feelings had that ‘’it will decades to get out of banditry and terrorism in the region’’.  The Sultan who had expressed the readiness of the traditional rulers to partner with the security agencies and the governors of the seven states in the north western region   to save the region from the numerous problems of banditry and insurgency.

An aggrieved Sultan may have made the Nigerian President, who was represent by Vice President Shettima, at the Katsina Peace summit that ‘’ non-kinetic   approaches  explored by the Federal Government   at different levels  to tackle  banditry and insurgency  in the north over the years   have failed  as the AK-4  wielding  bandits multiply across    the  north western geopolitical region  and penetrate the  north central  zone’’.   

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *