The representative of Sokoto East in the Senate, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, claims his constituents are at the mercy of bandits as they have been abandoned to their fate by the military.
Gobir made the claim on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday while seconding the motion moved by the Deputy Chief Whip, Sabi Abdullahi, on the order given by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, (retd.), to the military to flush bandits out of Zamfara State.
According to the legislator, his constituents now rely on Nigerien soldiers for protection.
He said,
“There is no protection for my people in the Sokoto East Senatorial District because of the incessant attacks by bandits. “At least 300 people have either been killed or kidnapped in the last three months while over 5,780 cows valued at N2.5bn had been stolen.
“We are even appealing to the Federal Government through the Senate for reparation. “We now rely on the Nigerien Army that is helping us since Nigerian soldiers have abandoned us.
“The situation is so bad that we only get help from the Niger Republic, not even from Nigeria. “We can’t be big for nothing and watch the Nigerien Army to assist us.
“Whenever there is an attack and we call the Nigerian Army, they won’t come, or come, patrol some metres and leave the people at the mercy of the bandits.
“However, immediately we inform the commandant of the Nigerien Army at a formation few kilometres away, the officer will come with his troops and help Nigerians.
“When we call the Nigerian Army, whose personnel are in a few kilometres away, we won’t get instant response but the Nigerien soldiers, who are in about five kilometres away, will quickly move in and ward off the intruders.
“At the moment, the Nigerians in Sokoto East are relocating to the Niger because they are no longer safe in Nigeria.”
Abdullahi in the motion based on orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules lamented the daily occurrence of banditry in Niger State which requires urgent intervention from the President.
However, the Senate commended Buhari for ordering the military to flush bandits out of Katsina State, but asked him to expand the scope of the order to cover Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto and other states under bandit attacks.
The upper chamber also called on the military and police to increase their surveillance operations to check banditry.