Insecurity: Bandits Demand 130 Motorcycles In Exchange For 26 Abducted Women

-As Group Wants Commissioner Sacked Over Comments

Five months after the abduction of 26 women in Allawa community of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, the bandits released a video featuring two out of the 26 women kidnapped as they demand for 130 motorcycles.

In the 30-second viral video shows one of the women tied to a tree, two women were seen pleading with their families and one speaking in Hausa, calling on a relative named Abdulrahman to help provide the required items.

According to the woman, “Umar, please talk to Abdulrahman. They (Bandits) have brought me to a service area now. They said they could not release me until the demanded items were delivered.

“They said I should talk so that you will hear my voice. I have injuries to my legs. For the sake of Allah and His Prophet, help bring the items.

“They said if you bring the items, they will release me along with Hajiya. I am here with Hajiya”

In a latest development, a Gbagyi socio-cultural group named Gbenu Boknu Yakwo Association, has urged Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago to sack the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Bello Abdullahi for denying reports that Bandits and terrorists have taken over Allawa and other communities in Shiroro LGA as safe and free from insecurity.

President of the Association, Bako Bosso, in a statement criticised the commissioner’s comment saying “we condemn the his attempt to manipulate public perception and trivialise the plight of those displaced and traumatised by banditry and insurgency.”

According to him “we call on Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago to urgently remove the incompetent Commissioner of Homeland Security to prevent further frustration and anger from the farming communities.

“The commissioner’s statements during an interview with an international media outlet showed that he was out of touch with the reality on the ground

“We, the Gbenu Boknu Yakwo Association, are deeply disappointed in Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi (RTD) for his recent comments that our people in Allawa and surrounding communities, who have been faced by insecurity, have resumed their normal farming activities.

“The commissioner’s assertion during a BBC Hausa service interview that normalcy has returned to Allawa in Shiroro LGA mockingly disregards the suffering of residents who have been displaced from their ancestral lands due to banditry and terrorism.

“The people of Niger know that our people fled Allawa since April 25, 2024, after soldiers stationed there were withdrawn.

“Despite five months since this exodus, the commissioner has failed to explain why the soldiers have not returned. Instead, he engaged in media misdirection, denying the reality of the ongoing crisis.

“His actions demonstrate gross inefficiency and incompetence in addressing the security challenges in Allawa and neighbouring villages”.

He further called on both the state and federal governments to take decisive action to eliminate the terrorists and enable the displaced residents to return to their homes and resume their farming activities.

Efforts to get the commissioner for Homeland Security failed as his number was not reachable.

However, the Chief Press Secretary to Niger state Governor, Ibrahim Bologi told our Correspondent that he has not heard or seen the video but promised to get back as soon as it is confirmed.