The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, says Northerners need to “challenge these bandits” if the region needs to get out of the menacing security challenges.
The President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) said it would take decades for the bandit-ravaged North-West geopolitical zone.
He said, “What we must do is to challenge these bandits because we all know the consequences of banditry and insurgency on our lives. But it will take decades to get out of it if all we get out of it. We all know the consequences and the problems.”
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The Sultan said the traditional rulers were ready to partner with security agencies and the seven governors of the zone to save “our region from the numerous problems.”
He was confident that at the end of the summit, he planned to bring the insurgency to the bare minimum so that people could go about their lives and businesses.
Attendees of the summit were Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, governors of the seven states in the North-West, Service chiefs, and Inspector General of Police.
The seven states experienced banditry over the past ten years after the remnants of Boko Haram split into other parts of the North.
Thousands of residents and travellers have been killed and thousands more displaced as the gunmen, who mostly invade the villages as herders and some on motorbikes, ravage the cities.
There have been reports of kidnap and millions of ransom paid by families of victims and the government to the bandits who wield AK-47s.
Non-kinetic approaches implemented by various levels of government have consistently failed as bandits persist in raiding farmers’ lands, significantly impacting the country’s food production.
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