Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has condemned renewed armed banditry attacks on some communities of Shiroro and Rafi Local Government areas of the state.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs. Mary Noel Berje, the Governor expressed concern over the unfortunate attacks added that the security operatives had been mandated to carry out a comprehensive manhunt on the criminals.
Governor Sani Bello, in addition to the joint security patrol, made a passionate appeal to the military to utilise the vast forest that serve as hideout for the bandits along the state’s boarder with Kaduna and Kebbi states by either establishing a formation or a training camp to checkmate their activities.
The Governor, who noted that the criminals took advantage of the vastness and difficult terrain of the Forest to unleash terror on innocent people, said the state government was fully supporting the joint security taskforce to chase the armed bandits out of the state.
He disclosed that the state government was also reviewing security strategies along the Rafi Local Government axis added that deployment of the joint security taskforce will be intensified.
While sympathizing with the victims of the recent armed banditry attacks in Kukoki and Kusherki communities, Governor Sani Bello has since dispatched government delegation to the camp of displaced persons in Kagara, headquarters of Rafi local government of the state for safety.
The Governor however directed the State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) to immediately assist the internally displaced persons stationed in Kagara while the joint security taskforce restores normalcy in their communities.
He appealed to the affected communities to cooperate with the security agencies in the area by providing credible intelligence that will lead to the hideout of the bandits stressed that the issue of security was a collective responsibility.
Governor Sani Bello, while expressing dismay over the way and manner the state’s security challenge was been overblown by the media, cautioned Journalists against writing opinion based reports that made the state seemed ungovernable because of insecurity.
