Buhari sad over spike in banditry ― Presidency

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he is unhappy at the rising spate of banditry in the country and has reassured Nigerians that ending the menace remains a key priority of his administration.

He has therefore promised that he would do whatever it takes to ensure the country’s security system confronts these public enemies with merciless determination.

According to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), I’m Abuja on Saturday, while reacting to  the recent spike in reported incidents of banditry and kidnappings in some parts of the country, President Buhari condoled all those affected by the unfortunate events, described himself as one of the unhappiest leaders in the world.

The statement quoted him as saying: “How can I be happy and indifferent to the senseless killings of my fellow citizens by bandits? I am human and I understand the pains of the victims and their families who have been traumatized and impoverished by constant ransom demands by bandits”, the President said empathetically.

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“The politicisation of tragedy reveals the darkest sides of our primitive politics. Almost every week, I summon my security chiefs to get an update on the strategies being devised to defeat these mass murderers.

“There is no issue that dominates my mind every 24 hours like security because, as an elected President, protecting the citizens of my country is one of the primary functions of my administration.

“I constantly listen to our security personnel in order to understand their problems and needs, and I have never hesitated to attend to those needs in terms of motivating and equipping them to respond effectively to our security challenges.

“It is therefore ridiculous to suggest that I am indifferent to these killings.

“I have ordered rapid and robust deployment of troops to all the areas currently under attack from bandits and we are determined to tackle this challenge ferociously until these remorseless killers are crushed and utterly defeated.”

President Buhari called on communities where banditry is active to support and cooperate with the security agencies, particularly the recently launched Operation Puff Adder to battle bandits and kidnappers.

He said it was regrettable that bandits have informants within some communities and utterly reprehensible that certain communities have signed protection deals with bandits at the expense of other communities, thereby creating complications and frustrating government’s intervention.

He appealed to communities to report suspicious movements of the bandits into their areas within the shortest available opportunity, especially considering the fact that intelligence is critical to detecting, frustrating, neutralising and defeating the criminals.