The Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji has donated N10million to the victims of recent bandit attacks in some communities in Mariga Local Government Area of the State.
He explained that the donation was made on behalf of the State Governor, Umaru Mohammed Bago.
The Speaker made the donation when he paid a condolence and on-the-spot assessment visit to the affected communities of Bobi, Kasuwan Garba, Wamba Mangoro, and Bangi, the headquarters of Mariga Local Government Area, still reeling from recent attacks by bandits.
The Speaker, in addition to the cash donation, also presented a number of motorcycles to the local vigilantes in the area to ease their movement and to enable them to respond to distress calls in the event of any attack.
While sympathizing with the victims and the families of those who lost their loved ones in the attacks, Sarkindaji decried the recent escalation of attacks by bandits in the area, saying that the security challenge is far from being over in some parts of the state.
He disclosed that forests in the Mariga and Kontagora Local Government Areas are still being occupied by these enemies of the people in their large numbers, lamenting that they are still killing, maiming and destroying properties, including farm produce, with reckless abandon.
The Speaker described as heartless and wicked, the recent onslaught by the heavily armed terrorists who invaded these communities, killing five vigilantes and three farmers in an ambush attack.
The farmers were said to have gone to their farms for harvest when the gunmen attacked them, killed them and burnt their farm produce.
The five vigilantes were killed in an ambush when they had gone to respond to the distress call from the farmers.
Sarkindaji who acknowledged the efforts of security agents to tackle the bandits and other insurgents, called for the deployment of more security personnel and equipment to both Mariga and Kontagora communities to enable the people to heave a sigh of relief, adding that “now that the people are harvesting their farm produce, they will seriously face challenges and therefore need protection. This situation calls for urgent attention.”
“Right now as we speak, these people are occupying our forests in Kontagora and Mariga local government areas, and that is the honest truth. As representatives of the people, we received information from them on a daily basis and this security challenge is very much with us in the State,” he said.
While commending the State Governor for being proactive in addressing the security challenges in parts of the state, the Speaker insisted that the State government alone cannot tackle the current situation, “and that is why we are calling on the federal government to come to the rescue of the people of the state because our communities are under siege from these people”.
The Speaker nonetheless assured the people of the state government’s support and commitment towards tackling the security situation and restoring peace to the area, stressing that “end to this menace will soon come”.
He was accompanied on the visit by the State APC Chairman, Hon. Aminu Musa Bobi; the Chairman of Mariga Local Government area, Hon. Abbas Adamu Kasuwan Garba and other political leaders from the area.
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