The Senate was stunned Tuesday by Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC Sokoto East), with damning report that people of his constituency now looked up to the neighbouring Nigerien soldiers for protection against armed bandits.
He claimed Nigerian Army had abandoned his people to their fate.
To this end, the Senate urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the military for immediate expansion of their operations against banditry from Katsina and Zamfara to Sokoto and Niger states.
ICG’s findings
The position came barely 48 hours after the International Crisis Group (ICG), in its principal findings, said some eight thousand persons have been killed in farmers, herders’ conflicts and related violence in the North-west states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Kaduna and the North-central state of Niger in the last 10 years.
It also said another 200,000 people were similarly displaced with some fleeing into the neighbouring Niger Republic.
The figures, released Sunday by the International Crisis Group via an e-mail from its African office in Kenya to Blueprint in Abuja, formed part of an executive summary of its principal findings as released by the senior communications officer for Africa, Mr. Nicolas Delaunay.
The group urged both the federal and state governments to reform livestock production as a way out of the herders, farmers’ clashes.
It said: “What’s new?Nigeria’s North-west is suffering deadly conflict involving many armed organisations, including herder-allied groups, vigilantes, criminal gangs and jihadists. The violence has killed over 8,000 people since 2011, and displaced over 200,000, some into neighbouring Niger. Despite several security operations and dialogue efforts, a durable peace remains elusive.”
Senate
Lamenting the plight of his while seconding and contributing to a motion on urgent military action against banditry in Niger state, Senator Gobir said the Sokoto incidents were worse than any other parts of the country.
He said, in the last three months, not less than 300 people in Sokoto East Senatorial District, have either been killed or kidnapped by the rampaging armed bandits on daily basis.
The lawmaker said: “The situation in Sokoto-East as far as armed banditry is concerned, is pathetic and tragic because it is only Nigerien Army that had been coming to their rescue while the Nigerian Army looks the other way (round).
“In fact, based on very reliable and verifiable information from the area, many at times that the people of the affected areas called on Nigerian Army for help and protection against the bandits, no response.
“But graciously , the Nigerien Army has been assisting in wading off the bandits, the very reason while not less than 5,000 people in the affected areas have migrated to Niger Republic for safety,” he said .
He lamented further that aside the 300 people who had fallen victims of banditry attacks in the area through kidnapping or outright killing, hundreds of cows and other animals were also rustled by the bandits, the worth of which is about N2.5billion.
“Fallout of this is grinding poverty ravaging the affected people in form of serious hunger since their cows and other animals are on daily basis being stolen and even money made from some of the cows they hurriedly sold.
“The situation is so bad that we only get help from Niger Republic and not from Nigeria at all, be it from the military or the police.
“The affected people cannot be perpetually be at the mercy of Nigerien soldiers and still expected to proudly see themselves as Nigerians.
“Very urgent drastic action is required from President Buhari through the military in form of expansion of anti-banditry operation currently being carried out in Zamfara and Katsina states to Sokoto state,” the lawmaker said.
The motion
Senator Sabi Abdullahi had in the motion anchored on orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing rules, lamented daily occurrence of armed banditry in Niger state, and called for urgent intervention from President Muhammadu Buhari.
Though the Senate in its resolutions, commended President Buhari for the anti-banditry operations going on in Katsina and Zamfara states, it however urged him , to extend same to Sokoto and Niger states to stem the ugly tide .
In his remarks, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the security challenges were enormous but surmountable.
“Nigeria is definitely up to the task and Mr. President will deploy military to the areas for restoration of sanity as gradually being witnessed in Zamfara and Katsina states,” he said.
When Blueprint called and also sent text messages to the GSM line of the Coordinator, Directorate of Defence Media Operations (DDMO), Major-General John Enenche, there was no reply to the text message neither was the call picked nor returned as at the time of this report last night.
