Latest: Bandits Kill 6, Displace 600 In Niger State

President Buhari (left) and Governor Bello (right)

Bandits attacked Shiroro and Rafi local governments of Niger state  between 10 am and 12 pm on Wednesday killing 6 people, five of the deaths were in Shiroro local government. 

Another 600 people were displaced by the attack that was said to have been carried out by around 50 men on motor bikes. The survivors have taken shelter in a primary school in Bosso local government of the state. 

Bandits Kill 3, Sack 100s in Fresh Attacks

The member representing Bosso constituency, Malik Madaki Bosso, is reported to have visited the latest IDPs for condolence. 

The North Central state, Niger state, has become a hot spot for killings and abductions by bandits. Hundreds of people have been killed by bandits in the state since 2016 and hundreds of others have been abducted. Some abductees have been released after ransoms were paid but a greater chunk of the abductees have remained missing. 

According to official figures by the Niger state government, there are no fewer than 10, 000 IDPs in the state. 

While speaking to the press after the ‘special insecurity prayers’ on 22^nd February, the governor of the state, Abubakar Sani Bello, said, “The government has put in place a robust action plan that will completely eradicate activities of armed bandits in parts of the state.  We have put in place all necessary measures at the moment to address the situation as far as security is concerned. They (bandits) have rendered over 10,000 persons, which included women, under aged children and male adults to be Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in their camps, and today we call for special prayers against these bandits and to seek Allah’s guidance and protection from these people."

Bandits Strike On Day Of Prayers, House Member Escapes Abduction

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.

Funding of Vigilante Groups and Insecurity

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.

On 16th February, the chairman of Rafi 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’. These cannot be said to have yielded any fruits.

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.