Niger: Bandits Kill 3, Sack 100s in Fresh Attacks

Buhari (left) Abu Lolo (right)

Another bandits attack on communities in Niger state has led to the  killing of three people.  

Armed men invaded Madaka town in Rafi local government area at about 10 pm on Tuesday 18^th February and conducted house to house searches killing people at will. 

A large number of residents have been fleeing towards Kagara, the administrative head of the local government. Bandits also attacked Tungan Makeri in the same local government; a number of homes were torched by the attackers. 

These attacks are coming just days after the chairman of the local government, Isma'il Musa Modibbo of the APC, inaugurated two thousand five hundred (2500) local vigilantes personnel to assist in what has been called ‘community policing’. 

Several local government areas in Niger state have been flowing with blood since 2017 when unknown gunmen began taking turns on killing sprees. The major local governments affected are Shiroro, Rafi, Paikoro and Munya.

On 8th February 2017, the Niger state government under Abubakar Sani Bello distributed 90 motor bikes to vigilante groups in Shiroro, Rafi and Munya local government to fight insecurity in the areas. Again on 27th January 2020, the state government distributed 120 motorbikes and 12 vehicles to vigilante groups in the region. These cannot be said to have yielded any fruits.

During the ceremony marking the distribution of the equipment on 27th January 2020, the governor alleged that the bandits wrecking havoc int he state have informants in government.

Bandits Have Informants In Government--Abu Lolo

On 11th February, the chairman of Shiroro local government announced that eight wards of the local government were now under the control of bandits.

Bandits Takeover 8 Wards In Niger Sate

In late January, Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, Emir of Minna, Umar Faruk Bahago, and immediate past governor, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, visited the president, Muhammadu Buhari, at the presidential palace, Aso rock, to lament the growing insecurity in the state. During the meeting, Buhari promised to offer military support to the state.

Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, also known by the nom de guerre, Abu Lolo, was made the chairman of the North Central Governors Forum in a security summit organized by the Nigerian police Force on 23rd January.

On 25th January, the federal government ordered the deployment of military equipment, including air crafts, to fight bandits in the affected local governments of Shiroro, Paikoro, Munya, Rafi and others.

On the same day 25th January, 11 people were killed and 4 women were kidnapped when bandits attacked Rafi local government. The bandits were said to utilize helicopters.

On 8th February, 5 people were killed by bandits in Shiroro local government.

Bandits Kill 5 displace 1200 In Fresh Attacks

So far in 2020, no fewer than 19 people have been killed by bandits in Niger state; thousands have also been forced to flee their homes to become IDPs in their own state.

Between June and December 2019 alone, at least 62 people were killed by bandits operating in the state while over 3, 200 others were forced to abandon their homes and become IDPs.

Fighting insecurity, particularly in Northern Nigeria, was a major campaign promise of Muhammadu Buhari when he pleaded to be voted for in 2015. It has become another item on the to do list of the administration that shows no sign of being achieved any time soon.

The coming of the APC governments at state and federal levels in Nigeria spearheaded by Muhammadu Buhari has brought about a reduction in Boko Haram activities but a concomitant astronomical rise in banditry, kidnapping and massacres by suspected herdsmen.