Design clear pathway to end banditry, insurgency, Buhari orders 

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered for an immediate response to rising cases of bandit attacks on communities in Zamfara State, ordering that there must be a pathway to end banditry and insurgency. 

Disclosing this on Thursday, a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) said in a directive to the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), “the President ordered that there must be a clear pathway to ending the resurgent banditry that has continued to cost lives and the displacement of thousands of families from their towns and villages.”

The statement recalled that recently, the Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Hon. Nasir Magarya, wrote a letter in which he appealed to President Buhari to intervene and stop the incessant killings by bandits in the state.

It added: “In this respect, a meeting is soon to take place that will deliberate on security and the issue of illegal mining which is fueling the crisis in Zamfara State.

“In addition to NSA the convener, the meeting will be attended by Major-General Bashir Magashi (Rtd), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Olamilekan Adegbite, Ministers of Defence, Interior, and Mines and Steel respectively.

“Also to attend the meeting are the Directors-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

“Beyond the problems of bandits and cattle rustlers, the scale of lawlessness has been aggravated by illegal miners who are harvesting resources they have no legal rights to exploit.

“Official statistics suggest that there are more than 20,000 such miners undermining this important part of the economy, operating in a manner that is extraordinarily harmful and destructive. The result is chaos.

“This meeting is expected to address these and associated issues of corruption, government oversight and lawlessness.”

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

INEC Lists Five Challenges Ahead Of 2023 Elections

AS politicians step up horse-trading ahead of subsequent elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has listed five main areas of likely challenges…

Who Succeeds IGP Mohammed Adamu?

As the February retirement date of the incumbent Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu draws near, there are varying permutations on who steps in as the new police boss. SUNDAY ADEPOJU writes on the suspense over the…