Declare Bandits As Terrorists Now, Senate Tells Buhari

Nigerian Senate on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to declare rampaging and deadly bandits as terrorists.

Bandits have been ravaging the northern part of Nigeria, especially Northwest with thousands of people killed and many kidnapped for ransom.

Several school children have been abducted by bandits, holding them hostage for months and releasing them after collecting ransom.

On Tuesday, bandits sacked a Kaduna village and killed 34 people.
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The senate said the president, after declaring them terrorists should go after them and bring them to justice whenever they are arrested.

At its sitting on Wednesday, the upper chamber in a resolution asked Buhari to direct the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to urgently support all victims of banditry in Sokoto and other parts of the country.

The motion was sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC, Sokoto East).

Presenting his motion, the lawmaker lamented that Sokoto East Senatorial District has now become a safe haven for bandits, following a crackdown on them by the military in Zamfara.

He expressed worry that on Saturday 25th September, 2021, twenty one (21) Security Personal were killed in Dama and Gangara villages by rampaging bandits.

The lawmaker disclosed that out of those killed, 15 of them were soldiers, 3 mobile police and 3 members of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, in addition to yet to be ascertained number of civilians from the neighboring villages.

“This has gone to portray the seriousness of the problem which require concerted and urgent action by the declaration of total war on banditry”, he said.

According to Gobir, “losing such numbers of trained security personnel will further deplete the numerical strength of the security personnel we have in the country, therefore jeopardizing the security architecture of the country.”

He added that most of the bandits have now relocated to Sabon Bimini and Isa local Government due to the sustained military operation at the Zamfara axis.

The lawmaker observed that while the crackdown on the bandits was taking place in Zamfara state, no concrete measures have so far been taken in Sokoto State, leaving it totally exposed to the activities of bandits.

He further expressed worry that the present military onslaught on the bandits is not well co-ordinated because it is only being orchestrated in Zamfara State, instead of all the front line States ravaged by bandits.

Gobir, therefore, called on the military to carry out a holistic operation on frontline states such as Sokoto, Katsina, Niger and Kaduna in order to produce effective and the desired results.