Governor Mohammed Umaru has distanced his administration from negotiating with bandits or paying ransom for kidnapped victims, noting that doing so would only embolden criminals and worsen insecurity in Niger State.  He spoke when he paid a condolence visit to the people of Rijau and Magama local councils whose communities were recently invaded by bandits.

A statement yesterday in Minna by his Special Adviser on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso, revealed that the governor noted that the state had reached a point where the people must stand up and defend themselves, cautioning that ransom payments would only turn kidnapping into a thriving business.

He explained that it is a constitutional duty for the lives and property of the people to be protected, adding that he would go all out to do that, as the Constitution does not state how far he should go in protecting the people.

Bago lamented a situation where communities were invaded, and the residents turned into internally displaced persons.  He announced plans to recruit and train 10,000 persons into the Joint Task Force (JTF) to restore security, with recruitment beginning immediately.

Bago also declared a total ban on mining across the entire Zone C of the state, which covers eight councils, including Magama, Kontagora, Rijau, Wushishi, Mariga, Borgu, Mashegu, and Agwara.

He maintained that illegal mining has become one of the major drivers of insecurity in the area, with miners often accessing forest zones unarmed while residents suffer repeated attacks.