Outcry over insecurity in Taraba, Niger, Nasarawa

Lawmaker seeks emergency rule, gov flays killing of nine farmers

The activities of gunmen in Taraba, Niger and Nasarawa states have caused unprecedented panic and din, leading to the call for emergency in Niger.

The Chairman, Takum Local Council of Taraba State, Shiban Tikari, has raised the alarm over the presence of gunmen suspected to be militias in the local council and environs.

Takum is the home of former Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd.), and Governor Darius Ishaku. Innocent civilians and security operatives have fallen victim of the insecurity in the southern part of Taraba. Consequently, Tikari told The Guardian: “We have already been surrounded by foreigners led by some Tiv militias.”

Citing the recent killing of a police sergeant, a mobile policeman and a soldier, he said the attackers were domiciling in forests surrounding the areas.

“The way out is for the government to sit up. Security should work in synergy to flush the criminals out of the forests surrounding us. These militias are living within the borders,” he said, urging state governments to rise to the occasion.

IN the same vein, Malik Bosso, representing Bosso Constituency in the Niger State House of Assembly, has urged the state government to declare state of emergency in Zone ‘B’ of the state, to easily the security challenges confronting the zone.

He stated this when he visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps amid high rate of insecurity in the zone.

The lawmaker stated that the security situation in the zone was greatly deteriorating, traversing virtually all the local councils in the zone.

Bosso disclosed that almost all the schools in the zone had been turned into IDP camps, accommodating over 1,000 persons.

MEANWHILE, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has condemned last weekend’s brutal killing of innocent farmers in Ajimaka village of Doma Local Council, by suspected herdsmen.

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ibrahim Addra, stated this following media reports accusing the governor of sluggishness in responding to the farmers’ murder.

Sule, who described the act as irresponsible, callous and inexcusable, said: “An attack that does not spare women and children bears the trademark of devilish elements bent on truncating the relative peace in the state. He, however, assured that security operatives had since begun investigation to expose the criminals and punish them according to the laws of the land.