Banditry: We’ll not return home, victims tell governor
Victims of last week mayhem in Shiroro communities in Niger State said they wouldn’t return home until security was beefed up.
Some of the victims, while lamenting their ordeal and attacks by bandits, told the governor that there was no security in place, which made them easy prey for attacks.
One of the injured victims, Danjuma Tanko, from Kwaki community, said “the bandits attacked us during my visit to the Internal Displaced Person (IDP) Camp in Erena in Shiroro Local Government Area.”
Tanko added: “There were no security agents in the communities when the attacks were carried out. We are not ready to pass through such an ordeal again. We will not return to our communities until adequate security has been provided.”
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said that troops had already been sent to the areas.
He said: “We will beef up security in the contiguous areas. Unfortunately, access to these areas is almost impossible because it is mostly marshy and rocky, but we have been able to send security personnel there so that the local people can go back to their various homes. I have spoken to a few of them. I understand their plight; they are scared to return home. I do not blame them for being scared. But I think we have sent enough troops to these communities to provide adequate security for the time being. We are doing our best to make sure they go return home, while we look at the comprehensive plan for providing more security.
“While going round the IDP camp, I saw a few with gunshot wounds. About 37 have been killed, while 27 are with gunshot wounds.”
The Director of the Primary Healthcare Centre in Shiroro, who heads the IDP Camp Clinic, Musa Idris Aliyu, said that in the past one week, 513 patients had been treated.
He said that there were adequate medical supplies for the treatment of the people, while relief materials had been brought.
The acting Director-General (DG), the State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Tanko Zumba, said there were currently 2,004 persons in the IDP Camp in Erena.
He added that 24 injured persons were still receiving treatment.
Zumba said government also provided items worth over N20 million, including food, cooking and utensils, toiletries, buckets and beddings.
