‘More than 200 people have been kidnapped In my constituency’ — Kebbi lawmaker laments

A member of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, Kabir Ibrahim Tukura, has lamented that over 500 persons had been killed, 201 abducted and 15,000 displaced in attacks by bandits and terrorists on farming communities in Sakaba and Danko/Wasagu Local Government Areas of the state.

The lawmaker, who made the statement on Wednesday however, did not state the period within which those attacks happened.

In his lead debate at plenary, Tukura said though the state police command confirmed that bandits killed 88 persons in the last week’s attacks on Koro, Kimi, Gaya, Dimi, Zulu, Rafin Gora, D’lanko, Dguenge, Chonoko, and Unashi villages in Danko/Wasagu LGA, over 150 people were discovered to have been killed after an assessment visit to the affected areas.

The lawmaker said reports had indicated that about 5,000 cattle and 3,000 sheep were also rustled in areas in the last one week alone.

He said the bandits moved in hundreds from town to town, searching for cattle to rustle, farm produce to cart away and people to abduct.

“In some cases, the homes of the residents are entirely burnt down, thereby rendering them homeless. Besides, many of their victims have been maimed while women, both old and young, are raped.

“Considering the current rise in security challenges in Danko-Wasagu and Sakaba Local Government Areas and indeed across the country, It is apt to state that the government has not done enough to secure the lives and properties of the good people of the local government areas to enable them to go about their everyday life.

“The local governments have been suffering silently in the hands of bandits in recent months, a situation that has led to the overstretching of the security agencies beyond their limit.

“The farming communities in the local governments have lost over 500 persons to banditry and terrorist attacks. Furthermore, more than 201 individuals were kidnapped with millions of naira paid as ransom.

“Over 15,000 have been rendered homeless, the number of widows is on a steady rise, children cannot go to school, farmers do not have access to their farmlands, and local markets are closed.

“They are now becoming poorer and poorer, and above all, the local primary schools cannot accommodate the internally displaced persons in the affected communities,” he said.