Mohammed Adamu, inspector general
of police (IGP), says banditry in the northern region has an “international
dimension”.
Adamu was speaking at a town-hall
meeting on peace and security which held on Wednesday at the headquarters of
Zuru local government in Kebbi state.
The IGP said an investigation
revealed that most of the bandits in the country are foreigners.
He said it was discovered that most of them are members of the Islamic State of West Africa, adding that the issue is a “big one”.
“We have realised that most of
the banditry has an international dimension. The bandits come from outside the
country. We arrested Sudanese, Nigeriens and Malians, among other nationals,”
IGP said.
“We also believe that because of
what is happening in the north-east and the fact that the military troops are
doing a great job in the fight against insurgency there, most of the bandits
are running toward the north-west of the country and we have evidence.
“When we operated in Kaduna,
Birnin Gwari, where we attacked a group of bandits, we realised that most of
them came from Islamic State of West Africa, who are terrorists, kidnapping for
ransom.
“So, the issue is not at the
level you are looking at it, it is a big issue and we must work together to
address it.”
Adamu said he was accompanied by
a high powered delegation, comprising heads of intelligent community in the
country, because of the seriousness the president attaches to security issues.
The IGP urged every Nigerian to
see the fight against insecurity as a collective responsibility.
“During one of our briefings on
security to the president, the issue of insecurity was seriously discussed as
it affects the north-west in particular and we saw an emerging trend from Zuru
emirate,” he said.
“And the president ordered us to
move to Zuru and listen to the stakeholders and come up with a solution on how
to bring lasting peace in Zuru emirate and that’s why we are here.”
He also reiterated the need for
citizens to provide reliable and intelligent information about suspicious
elements in society to security agencies.
According to Adamu, security
operatives have found that insecurity is fuelled by the activities of “Yan Sa
Kai” (local vigilantes), who went out of control because of lack of command in
Zamfara and Katsina states.
“What fueled insecurity in terms
of banditry in Zamfara is what is fueling insecurity in Katsina and invariably
the same here in Kebbi state,” he said.
“When the situation was so bad in
Zamfara, we brought all the stakeholders and in another development, we met
with all the governors from the north-west to Katsina.
“A lot was discussed and we
realised that Zamfara’s situation was caused by the problem of “Yan Sa Kai”.
This is because there was no control of command of the activities of Yan Sa
Kai.
“When we moved to Katsina state
we wanted to know what had been fueling the banditry and reprisal attacks.
“Again, it was the activities of
Yan Sa Kai because they organised themselves genuinely to protect their
environment, their communities and their families but there was no command of
control, so they went out of control and that is what is happening now in Kebbi
state.”
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