Senate wants bandits locations bombed, brand them terrorists

• Bandits abduct 27 in Sokoto

The Senate on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to wage a total war against bandits terrorising the nation through bombing of all their locations to eliminate them from the society.

It also advised the President to declare bandits as terrorists in order for the military and other security agencies to go all out to rout them out.

Daily Trust in a report notes that bandits have been terrorising Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, and Kebbi in the North West and Niger in North Central.

They have killed thousands of people, displaced many and crippled social and economic life while different measures taken by governments could not produce the desired results.

The latest intervention was the stoppage of telecommunication services in areas worse hit by banditry with varied opinions on the efficacy of the action.

The Senate while calling on Buhari to declare banditry as terrorism, also urged him to declare known leaderships of the bandits wanted and track them wherever they could be for arrest and prosecution.

The resolutions followed a motion by Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi Gobir (Sokoto East) and eight others.

Gobir noted that Sokoto East Senatorial District had now become a haven for bandits due to the current onslaught against them in Zamfara State.

He recalled the killing of 21 security personnel last Saturday in Dama and Gangara and yet to be ascertained number of civilians from the neighbouring villages by rampaging bandits.

The gruesome murder, the lawmaker said, portrayed the seriousness of the problem, which required concerted and urgent action by the declaration of total war on banditry.

The lawmaker said he was worried that most of the bandits had now relocated to Sabon Birni and Isa Local Government Areas due to the sustained military operations at the Zamfara axis.

Senator Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano) said the security situation in the country required a holistic approach, warning that the bandits may soon invade the nation’s capital if urgent and decisive action was not taken.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan, in his remarks, called for an upward review of armed forces allocation to N1 trillion to procure needed equipment to secure the country.

“They are giving their lives to secure this country. We need to give them needed resources. We need to improve annual appropriation for them. I see no reason why we should not increase armed forces allocation to N1 trillion,” he said.

Bandits abduct 27 in Sokoto

Many policemen were feared missing as bandits attacked another community in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

Daily Trust gathered that 27 persons including women and children were abducted from the Gatawa community.

The attack reportedly took place around 5am on Wednesday.

Confirming the attack, the member representing Sabon Birni East Constituency at the State House of Assembly, Sa’idu Ibrahim, said the bandits were now targeting security formations in the area.

“They are now looking for where security operatives are stationed because their morale was boosted by their recent successful attack on a military formation at Dama where many soldiers, policemen and civil defence officers were killed,” he said.

“They raided Gangara village twice on Tuesday, first around 5 am and when they could not find any security operative to kill, they came back around 3 pm shouting ‘where are the soldiers who claimed to be on our trail, where are they!”

“As I am talking to you now, many policemen are still missing. We don’t know whether they were abducted or they fled,” he said.