Gunmen kill four cops, seven civilians in Kebbi

Profiling terrorists hinders war against criminality, says El-Rufai

Gunmen have killed four policemen and seven civilians in Gafara village, Ngasky Local Council of Kebbi State, barely seven days after the Zuru attack that claimed the lives of over 17 security operatives.

Confirming the report to newsmen, yesterday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nafiu Abubakar, said the attack was in the morning when about 500 bandits took over a tomato company, GB Foods, in the area.

He added: “All the employees of the company have been evacuated and more mobile policemen are being mobolised to the area to ensure safety and return to normalcy.”

He appealed to residents to remain calm, as government was working hard with security operatives to protect life and property. A witness, Kabiru Wara, told journalists on phone that more than seven civilians were killed, and appealed to government to support the security agencies with arms to fight the criminals.

MEANWHILE, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has called on journalists across the country to stop ethnic and religious profiling of criminal elements, like bandits and kidnappers, as such exercise hinders the fight against criminality.

Speaking through the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, the governor said that such profiling had been hindering the success of the fight against criminality in Kaduna, North West and the country as a whole.

He urged journalists to rather educate the populace that “criminals are criminals irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political leaning” and support security operatives and the government at all levels to end insecurity.

Aruwan said at a security summit in Kaduna: “Banditry is not about the region or religion. The insecurity we face is clear criminality. Terrorists are a threat to humanity in general and can only be tamed when we come together to confront them.

“The focus of the bandits, wherever they are, is not about the faith, region, ethnicity or political persuasion, but the economic viability of their victims. But when security issues are politicised, criminal elements are persuaded to deepen their act.”

According to him, since 2015, his government’s position on criminality is very clear. His words: “For example, we believe that if, in the course of grazing, animal-rearers come under attack, our appeal to them is to have recourse to the law. There is no justification for attacking sleeping communities.

“The same applies to the other side when someone goes to the farm and comes under attack or their farm or produce is destroyed; what we want people to do is to have recourse to the law. There is no justification for a group of people to be attacked on the basis that they had ethnic, religious or political interests with people alleged or suspected to have committed the crime.”

He appealed to the media to be circumspect and sensitive in looking at the issue. “There is no gain in referring to criminals, bandits or terrorists with ethnic profile. It does not help the situation. The good, the bad and the ugly are found in all faith, ethnic and political populations.

“So, we believe that media should help us in helping our citizens to understand the fact that banditry is criminality and bandits, kidnappers and other criminals are not doing so in consensus with their ethnicity and faith.”