Sokoto Banditry: Tambuwal Briefs Buhari In Aso Rock

SOKOTOSTATE Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday, briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the security situation in the state, especially the banditry attack in the Birnin

Gwari Local Council, which has claimed 74 lives.

Tambuwal told State House correspondents after his meeting with President Buhari, that the attack on Birnin Gwari, in the Sokoto East Senatorial Zone of the state, was “a very, very heinous and dastardly act of aggression from the bandits.”

According to him, his meeting with the president dwelt on the needs and support that the state government would require to tackle the security challenge in the area.

“I have briefed the president on the general situation and the needs and the support that we require. “And when I say we I mean the security personnel that are there in Sokoto state, working day and night in synergy with each other to ensure that they maintain peace and order in the state. “And of course the requirement of that of more personnel, more equipment, more resources in terms of operation, vehicles and all of that and the need for the president’s intervention and support for internally displaced persons who are in thousands from that area.” Governor Tambuwal said President Buhari reassured of the federal government’s readiness to step into the matter and facilitate restoration of peace in the state. He said that the president reaffirmed his earlier statement that immediate actions would be taken on the issue, adding that he was “satisfied with the response I got from the president.”

Tambuwal said the attacks from the bandits were in the areas bordering Zamfara and Katsina States and parts of Niger Republic, which have been under attacks for some years now. “Sometimes, it stretches into Sokoto from either

Zamfara, Katsina sites and then some of them from Niger Republic.

“So, that is why the area became prone to these attacks. From the initial information that we have, the pressure that they are on from the coordinated efforts in Katsina and Zamfara is what is actually giving them some kind of advantage.

“So, we have requested the president to complete the loop of the entire area. The loop of the entire area is that Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, all of these states, there should be coordination of containment of these banditry attacks in these areas. “Otherwise, if you block this side, they will escape to the other side. There’s the need for all of it to be coordinated between Niger, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, all of that area.” According to Tambuwal, there has been a synergy between the governors of the states in the northwestern part of Nigeria in the fight against the bandits.