Governor Calls For More Mobile Squads In Sensitive Areas In Niger State

Governor Abubakar Bello has called for more mobile squads to be posted to sensitive areas of the state in a bid to limit the movement of bandits from neighbouring states into Niger State.

Governor Bello made the call when he received the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone ‘7’, Aliyu Garba on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Minna, the state capital.

The Governor explained to the AIG, how the state has been enjoying relative peace from banditry attacks for some period, except for the youth restiveness that was rearing its ugly head.

He said, “marching orders have been given to the security agents to deal decisively with the miscreants.”

Governor Bello however said that “cases of banditry attacks are reoccurring again in parts of the state which is quite disturbing.”

The Governor noted that bandits in large number invaded Kumbashi area of the state and engaged security personnel but details of casualties are yet to be known from the attack.

According to him, one of the commanders of the security agents paid the supreme price and the bandits moved to Rijau area.

Governor Bello thereby decried the inadequate number of security personnel compared to the size of the state.

“Unfortunately because of the size of the state, we do not have enough boots on the ground. And we don’t have any special forces of police around Rijau area. We have some Military personnel but their number is not much considering the wideness of the area coupled with many entry and exit routes in the area,” he stated.

The Governor appealed to the AIG saying; “You are in a better position to understand the terrain. I will at this point on behalf of the Government of the state appeal to you to use whatever means you can at the headquarters to see that we get adequate boots on the ground. We need more mobile squads to be posted to sensitive areas thereby limiting the movements of these bandits from neighbouring states into Niger State.”

He stressed that the situation calls for very robust and swift action, adding that there is a need to identify the kingpins for necessary steps to be taken.

The new Police, Aliyu Garba explained that his visit was to familiarise with the Governor and to see how best the Police can collaborate with other security agencies in the state to address the security challenges.

He stressed the importance of government and critical stakeholders’ support, especially in terms of logistics for the effective tackling of crime and criminality in society.

The Deputy Governor, Ahmed Kesto and the Governor-elect Umar Bago were also part of the meeting.

The AIG was accompanied on the visit by the CP, Niger State Command, Ogundele Ayodeji, and other senior police officers.

Mercy Chukwudiebere