Sokoto killings: Bandits are wellknown – Shagari

A House of Representatives member representing Yabo/ Shagari Federal Constituency of Sokoto State, Aminu Shehu Shagari, said the bandits that killed 40 persons in Sokoto State are "well-known," and that he had once encountered them.

Shagari (APC, Sokoto) disclosed this yesterday while leading debate on a motion of urgent public importance on "the dastardly attack by armed bandits on some villages in Sokoto State on 9 July."

He stated that prior to the invasion, the armed bandits had issued threat letters to the villagers with warning to either pay millions of naira or risk being attacked.

"The over 100 armed bandits who carried out the dastardly act came on motor cycles with guns and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The bandits who carry out orgy of unwarranted violence in Sokoto and environs are well-known. I have once encountered them," Shagari said.

He expressed concern that the affected villages and environs now live in perpetual fear of further attacks, warning that if adequate security was not provided, they would always be exposed to unimaginable danger with attendant humanitarian crises.

Contributing to the debate, Yakubu Barde (PDP, Kaduna) flayed the Federal Government for deploying large security officials to police Ekiti elections instead of protecting human lives in areas under attack.