The Senate, yesterday, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits as terrorists in the country as they continue their unrestrained reign of terror in Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and other Northwestern states.
The red chamber also asked the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to wage a total war against the criminals, including bombing all their locations, to annihilate and eliminate them, while also declaring all known leadership of the bandits wanted and track them wherever they are for arrest and prosecution.
These were part of the Senate’s resolutions after considering a motion sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gobir Abdullahi (Sokoto East), and co-sponsored by eight other senators.
At the plenary presided by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the lawmakers called for a declaration of total war against bandits and also directed relevant Federal Government agencies to give all necessary support to victims of the menace of banditry in Sokoto and other parts of the country.
Abdullahi, while moving the motion, raised the alarm that his Senatorial district has now become a safe haven for bandits due to the current crackdown in Zamfara.
He said last Saturday, 21 security personnel were killed in Dama and Gangara villages by rampaging bandits, in addition to yet to be ascertained number of civilians from neighbouring villages.
This, he said, portrayed the seriousness of the problem, which requires concerted and urgent action by the declaration of total war on banditry.
He added: “We are worried that losing such number of trained security personnel will, apart from depleting the numerical strength of the security personnel we have in the country, dampen the morale of our security agents in confronting insecurity, thereby jeopardising the security architecture of the country.
“We are concerned that while there is crackdown on bandits in Zamfara State, no concrete measures have been taken in Sokoto State, leaving it totally exposed to the activities of the bandits.
“We are further worried that the present military onslaught on the bandits is not well coordinated because it is only being orchestrated in Zamfara instead of all the frontline states ravaged by banditry, i.e. Sokoto, Katsina, Niger and Kaduna. The operation should be holistic instead of restrictive produce effective and desired results.”
The Senate President, who expressed concern over the situation, reiterated the resolve of the National Assembly to appropriate more funds to tackle the menace of insecurity.
Recalling the appropriation of N800 billion in the recently signed supplementary budget, he hinted that the National Assembly might appropriate N1 trillion to security agencies in the 2022 budget.
Following consistent attacks, kidnapping and killings of citizens by bandits, Kaduna State government, yesterday, asked residents to prepare for a shutdown of telecommunication services as it mandated telecoms firms to suspend their services in the state from September 30, towards checking the activities of bandits.
The shutdown, however, would not cover the entire state, but will only affect councils bordering the troubled Zamfara and Katsina states where military onslaught is ongoing.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who disclosed this, also said the use of motorcycles for transport services has been suspended across the state.
This is coming a day after death toll in bandits’ attack on Southern Kaduna communities increased to 51. Similar measures had earlier this month been taken in Zamfara and some local councils of Sokoto and Katsina states.
