Group blows hot, urges NASS to investigate lingering banditry in the North-West

Samuel Luka,
Bauchi

Disturbed by what they described as ‘prolonged’ act of banditry in the Northwest, a Northern group, Arewa Mu Farka, has demanded that the National Assembly investigate allegations of involvement of highly placed persons in the sub-region in their bid to plunder resources of the country.

The leader of group, Haruna Aliyu Ningi who made the call at a press conference in Bauchi on Tuesday, said it was unfortunate that 90 days after female students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State were abducted, the victims are still in captivity.

According to him, there is the urgent need on the federal government to direct the security agencies to intensify efforts and deploy all their needed intelligence to end the prolonged banditry in the sub region.

Ningi who pointed out that they had planned to stage a peaceful protest over insecurity but cancelled it to avoid been hijacked by miscreants given the current hardship in the country.

He condemned the rising spate of abduction of female students of tertiary institutions and the inability to rescue them by the authorities.

The group questioned why the abducted girls are still in captivity 90 days after their kidnap in a state where the minister heading the ministry that deals with security issues is coming from.

“Up till now we have not heard news concerning the abducted girls. This is not the first time that students are being abducted”, he protested.

Ningi who decried the frequency of abduction of students in the region, recalled that Nigerian Army acted swiftly in the issue in Zaki Biam and during the regime of late Umar Yar Adua who was to travel to Brazil when the issue of Boko Haram surfaced.

“The former president gave a marching order to the military to arrest the leader of the terrorist group within 24 and the order was carried out. It is sad that the military today is unable to arrest notorious bandit Turji and others that are terrorizing residents in the sub region for the past six years”, Ningi stated.

He said that the current situation is raising people’s suspicion that the bandits are being used to steal the resources of the country under the guise of banditry.

The group which said that the assertion that bandits are being used to steal the country’s resources though a mere allegation, said however, that it is worth investigating.

“We urge that if this lapses is as a result of negligence, then something should be done to expose those involved”, Ningi cried out.

The group also called for thorough probe into the recent accidental bombing in a village in Kaduna with a view to punishing anyone found wanting in the unfortunate incident.