About 400 people have been killed in Niger state
- The killings were orchestrated by herdsmen and bandits
- Several girls have been reportedly kidnapped in the raids by the alleged herdsmen
David Umaru, the senator representing
Niger East Senatorial District, has revealed that bandits and cattle
rustlers killed 400 people within the region in 2016.
According
to Umaru who briefed journalists on the deteriorating security
situation in the crises-ridden area, on Wednesday in Minna, the bandits
defiled and abducted several women and girls, while thousands of
livestock were rustled.
“From statistics obtained from
community leaders, property worth millions of naira were also stolen or
destroyed by the bandits that were usually heavily armed,” he said.
Umaru,
Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights, further
disclosed that communities bordering Kaduna State were more vulnerable
as bandits consistently used the surrounding forest as escape route.
He named communities worst affected by the
attacks to include Kaure, Kusasun, Mwaignu, Sabon Gida, Kwaki, Ajata,
Kushaka, Bagna, Bassa/Kukoki, Allawa in Shiroro and Rafi local
government areas.
NAN reports that the senator
urged Governor Abubakar Bello to adopt urgent measures to check the
trend and particularly suggested the relocation of the state’s police
headquarters to the affected area to “liberate the people”.
Umaru
appealed to the state government to promptly implement the
recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry currently looking into the
remote causes of the clash between soldiers and rural communities in
Bosso Local Government Area to rid the area of such perennial violence.
No comments:
Post a Comment