Professor Abdussamad Ahmad Jibia
It is increasingly becoming clearer that nobody is safe in this country, especially in our own part of it. It was only yesterday we were commiserating with the people of Guga on the murder of several, the abduction of their village head along with other people and the burning of property including vehicles and shops. A week earlier it was a nearby village Ruwan Godiya in which at least 28 people were kidnapped after unprintable atrocities committed by the criminals. In between these two attacks a lot of other acts of criminality were unleashed on the good people of Katsina State. For example, the ward head of ‘Yangayya in Jibia LGA was murdered along with five others in addition to another attack on Jibia and another village near Guga in Bakori LGA.
Last night it was another day for the criminals. The DPO of Jibia LGA was murdered by bandits. The detail of other acts of crime committed is still sketchy.
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The story is not different in Zamfara, Kaduna or Sokoto state. The criminals whose identities and locations are well known by Government freely attack any community they want and get away with it.
All the counter-banditry operations so far are superficial. The fight is yet to be taken to the door steps of the bandits in the forest. What the security operatives do is to sometime intercept small groups of bandits on the move. The bandits, on the other hand, plan and attack any community they want at their own time.
For those in Government who see our predicament as an opportunity to make money, let them understand that they may make money, plenty of it, but may not have the secure environment to enjoy it. At the rate it is going, banditry would soon engulf everywhere, unless the right steps are urgently taken.
Prof Abdussamad Umar Jibia
09/02/2022
