Bandits’ Attack on Shiroro Victims Not at IDP Camp, Says Niger Acting Gov, Garba

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Niger State acting Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, has said the 13 Maigiro villagers in Shiroro Local Government, who lost their lives last week were not  killed by bandits at the Internally Displaced People’s Camp.

Garba made the clarification in the village at the weekend after attending a 3-day prayer for the repose of the souls of the deceased.

The clarification, Yakubu said, was necessitated by the claims that  bandits attacked and killed the villagers at the IDP Camp, insisting that there was no attack on the camp, so no one was killed there.

Narrating how the 13 victims died, the acting governor said the deceased along with others returned to their ancestral homes  from the IDP Camp for farming purposes “unfortunately they met their untimely death in the hands of the bandits.”

Garba also said the state government was doing everything possible to return peace to Shiroro and other areas where bandits have held sway assuring them that very soon, government’s efforts would start yielding fruits.

He conceded that  insecurity was affecting the outcome of the Agricultural Revolution of the present administration in the state despite the huge investment, as farmers were being chased out of their communities by bandits.

“We have a target but we are yet to meet that target, until we eradicate banditry  in every nook and crannies of our communities the government will not rest,” he said, adding that, “We are yet to meet this target and expectations but we are determined to meet it.”

Garba said some progress had been made in the fight against banditry, and that, “In the last two years, one cannot cross to Kuta, which is the headquarters of Shiroro local government without a second thought, but now people  go beyond Kuta to as far as Zumba and other adjoining communities.

“Government is doing everything humanly possible to change the narratives and break the pool of insecurity in the state, particularly in areas bedevilled by banditry,” he submitted.

He also used the opportunity to appeal to the federal government to intervene by bringing back the military withdrawn from Allawa community  five months ago, saying the restoration of the military base  would enable members of the community  go back to their normal ways of life.