B’Haram, bandits are Nigeria’s major problems, not IPOB – Dangiwa

A former governor of Kaduna State, Col Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (retd), has said the activities of bandits and Boko Haram are the real threats to Nigeria’s existence and not secessionist groups such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday, appraising the arrest of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government.

He said the attacks by bandits that had rendered thousands homeless and deprived farmers the freedom to visit their farmlands should be of great worry.

The retired colonel said, “It is quite strange and disturbing that the federal government is according undue attention to the threats of separatist movements in contrast to the more daunting ones posed by bandits, kidnappers and insurgents in the North West, some parts of North Central and the North East.

“Activities of those criminals have resulted in the evacuation of over 20 per cent of the villages in the North West and North East. Hundreds are being murdered and maimed every week.

“Many more are kidnapped for ransom. Millions have been rendered internally displaced, facing diseases and starvation. Over 1,000 school children were abducted in the past eight months with over 300 still in the hands of the bandits and kidnappers demanding humongous ransom payments. Rape of women and young girls has become a daily occurrence. Most economic activities, particularly farming, which is the mainstay of the people in these areas, are now all but impossible.”

He said northerners living in areas affected by insecurity were unaware of the activities of separatists, noting that banditry, kidnapping and insurgency were of greater threat to the economic development of the country.

Even as he condemned the brutal method IPOB was using to call for secession, he accused President Muhammadu Buhari of mismanaging the diversity of Nigeria as evident in his statement of not to treat all parts of the country equal due to the disparity of votes he got in a region.