Niger State: Bandits Kill 5 displace 1200 In Fresh Attacks

Buhari (left) and Abu Lolo (right)

As insecurity continues to fester across Northern Nigeria, Niger  state has continued to get its share. Five people have been killed in yet another attack on villages in Shiroro local government area of Niger state. 

Eyewitnesses say about 200 bandits on motorbikes and on foot attacked Gurmana village on the banks of River Kaduna today (8^th February) at about 12:00 pm. 1, 200 people are said to have been displaced by the attack forcing them to migrate to the nearby town of Mashigi waiting for help close to the river. 

There did not seem to be any military presence in the area as no security outfit has given a statement on the incident. In an interview with the press, director of the Niger state Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Ibrahim Inga, he said the agency was ready to deliver aid to the IDPs and relocate them to Kuta, the local government’s capital, as soon as it was safe. 

One survivor, Isma’il Gurmana, gave his account of the incident and said the bandits were still in Gurmana along with about 200 rustled cows.

About two weeks ago, 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.

On 25^th January, the federal government ordered the deployment of military equipment, including aircrafts, 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. 

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.

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

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