Senator Cries Out for Help as Bandits Run Riot in Niger 

Laleye Dipo in Minna

As bandits continue to kill and kidnap people in the Niger East senatorial district of Niger State, the Senator representing the district, Alhaji Sani Musa, has made a clarion call to the federal government to come to the rescue of his people.

In the recent week, not less than 30 villagers have been kidnapped-most of them women, while an unconfirmed source said five of them were killed with one man maimed having been shot in the leg.

An entire community, according to reports from an area in Munya Local Government Area, has also been taken over by the bandits who have reportedly turned the place into their camp.

Senator Musa described the latest development in his district as “unacceptable”, and asked the federal government and the security agencies to do the needful by rescuing “my people from the hands of these blood-thirsty marauders.”

Musa lamented that the heightened insecurity in the Munya LGA just like in four other local government areas has rendered the villagers jobless as they could no longer access their farms and other means of livelihood.

He noted that his constituency is responsible for almost 60 percent of food production in the state, adding that as a result of the activities of these bandits and terrorists, 80 percent of these farmers have been forced to leave their farms and homes.

According to the lawmaker, “The latest attack and act of terrorism targeted at my people by these criminal elements is inhuman, wicked, and unacceptable. The people have been forced out of their farmlands and their ancestral homes, and have been turned to refugees in their own land, this is unfortunate.

“I seriously feel the pains of my people, it is very sad to see people being forced out of their homes without committing any crime. My people are helpless and the authority must act immediately to restore normalcy in these communities.”

Musa in the statement, therefore, asked the federal government, the Armed Forces, and other security agencies to “stand together and rise up to the occasion, with a view to bringing this ugly situation under control,” adding that the situation, if allowed to continue, will frustrate the food security programme of the administration.

Meanwhile, eight women were among the 23 people kidnapped last Thursday after the gunmen raided Tsohon Kabula community in the Munya LGA.

A report from the area stated that a large number of the bandits operated on foot unlike in the past when they rode on motorcycles.

The men in the village were said to have escaped leaving the women and girls at the mercy of the bandits.

Efforts to get the state police confirmation did not yield any result as the State Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, did not respond to calls made to his cell phone.

Also, the state government has also been quiet on the situation, with government officials declining to comment on the development.