The Emir of Birnin Gwari, Alhaji Zubair Jibril Maigwari on Friday said the armed bandits terrorizing his domain are now hungry and easy to defeat with more security efforts.
Birnin Gwari has over the years been bedeviled by attacks from armed robbers, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and bandits, who have killed hundreds of people in the area.
But speaking in his palace while playing host to Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Ali Aji Janga. who paid a familiarisation and operational visit to the local government area, the Emir noted his delight at the visit of the Police Commissioner, while expressing confidence that a better coordinated operation will defeat the bandits.
Alhaji Maigwari appealed to the CP to regulate the activities of a group identified as security volunteers, saying that, they are suspected to be informants to the criminals.
“The bandits are only carrying out their operations in secluded areas where there are small markets stalls and steal food in order to survive, they are hungry, they don’t have time to kill people again.
“If the police should restrategise, little effort will only be needed to scrape them all, they don’t have much weapons, they are hidden in obvious hideouts. The vigilante groups are also very helpful and they are playing a very vital roles in the fight against crime in the local government, but the the police should look into putting an end to the help of volunteers.
“They over react to situations and cause more damage in situations, the police should sit with them, get the good ones and recruit them to work together with the vigilantes. We now have three extra police divisions in the local government, we earlier have four, the police personnel are not much, but they are trying their possible best to curtail any kind of criminal activity in the local government.
“We are aware of the challenges faced by the police, we know you can’t instantly deploy police officers to us, but the few we have are putting in their best in the fight against criminality in the areas. We have had a lot of police Commissioners in the state, I have worked with about 20 while on throne, we gave them all the support they needed to combat crime in our communities, we also pledge to give you our maximum support,” the Emir said.
However, Commissioner of Police Janga assured that the issue of banditry will soon become a past in the area, as a simultaneous raid in all the states under armed bandits attacks is in the pipeline. He equally assured that, his men will chase the bandits into their hideouts in the bush and make them bleed.
“The problems of banditry in Birnin Gwari is one among the major problems we have at heart, we would be ready, fully prepared and come to synergies with the vigilante groups and raid their hideouts. We assure the people of Birnin Gwari that the issue of banditry in the local government will soon become an issue of the past. We will go after them into the bush. We will engage them and blood will flow.
“A week ago, we met with the Inspector General of police in Abuja, he spoke on concrete plans especially for Birnin Gwari to curtail the criminal activities and banditry in the area and others states in Nigeria facing such problems of insecurity. The comprehensive operations order would be carried out simultaneously in Birnin Gwari and other states affected by similar challenges across Nigeria.”
The CP, who equally met the Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Garba Gambo Randagi and leaders of Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), however solicited the cooperation of the community to enable the police succeed in the war against the bandits.
