Residents of some States in the North-West region have said that governments’ approach of encouraging people to defend themselves in the fight against bandits is yielding the desired result.
In their responses to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey, they said this bold approach, which entailed enormous sacrifice by residents, had forced bandits to soft-pedal in their nefarious activities.
According to them, the hoodlums have realised that the battle is no longer between security agents and bandits, but now involved the ‘people’ as active participants in the fight.
In Katsina, for instance, the State Government said several leaders of bandit groups had reached out to the authorities, seeking peace.
The Special Adviser to the State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari on Security Matters, Ibrahim Ahmed, told newsmen that most of the hoodlums had envisaged a bleak future and were willing to make amends. According to him, the approach adopted by the government targeted at ‘building the courage’ of the people, had started yielding positive results, with the rate of attacks by bandits reduced.
Ahmed said success could be achieved easily through the combined efforts of the citizens, the State government and security agencies. According to the adviser, the State Government had trained 1,100 highly volunteers to serve as members of the community vigilante corps, and were ready to make sacrifices for their communities to survive. He said this is an effort to send a message to the bandits to embrace peace or face a tough time.
In Sokoto, a security expert, Sqdr. Leader Aminu Bala (rtd), observed that activities of bandits had reduced slightly in the past few months, but called for the sustenance of the current military onslaught on the hoodlums.
Meanwhile, some religious leaders in Kaduna State have observed that insurgency had remained unabated in the State, but admitted that little success had been achieved.
Reacting to recent development in the state, Zamfara State Police Spokesperson, Muhammad Shehu, said the security situation had improved, adding that apprehension and fear among people had subsided drastically.
According to him, the on-going efforts by Police and other security agencies in the fight against banditry activities had been yielding results.
