Former Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Operations) at the Nigeria Police Headquarters, Abuja, Abdulmajid Ali, has called on the Federal Government to urgently rescue the people of Niger State and other parts of the country ridden with violence.
Ali said the Federal Government should rise to its responsibility of adequately protecting all the citizens of Nigeria in all parts of the country.
The ex-DIG (Operations) stated this in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja.
Ali lamented that the worsening large scale violence, massive destruction of property and incessant killings in Niger State on a daily basis by bandits were making the hapless and defenceless people of the state feel abandoned to their fate by the Federal Government.
He said that the mounting cases of violence in Wushishi, Zungeru, Kontagora, Rijau, Tegina, up to certain parts of Kaduna territory were clear evidence that the government and people of Niger State were under severe attacks and oppressions.
Ali stressed that the existing dangerous atmosphere in the state has necessitated urgent attention and help from the Federal Government and the international communities to salvage them.
He added that the fears of an average Niger State resident and Nigerians in general were not just about the insecure environment alone, but also the looming continuous loss of lives and property as well as the resultant food scarcity, a development he said had the capability to destabilise the country and the West African sub-region due to massive destruction of farmlands and cultivations.
The former police brass hat expressed regret that efforts by the military, police and paramilitary forces to suppress the widespread violence and destruction of lives and property in Niger State were not being felt as “mass killings, kidnapping for ransom, arson, mass destruction of property to include farmlands, cultivation etc, have been recorded with little or no reportage or broadcast on the incidents while many feel unconcerned and relaxed.”
He, however, commended the Nigeria Police Force and the ground troops of the other security forces “who have been at the battle theatres for their efforts in tackling insecurity in Niger State.”
Below is the full text of DIG Ali’s press statement:
INSECURITY: THE ARGONIES AND UNTOLD STORIES OF PEOPLE OF NIGER STATE, NEED TO RISE FOR HELP
It is no longer a news that series of violent crimes have been ongoing in Niger State, North Central region of Nigeria, which have led to mass destruction of people’s valuables and above all, loss of lives of both the young and the old, males and females, with no discrimination.
It has been on record that the new dimensions of insurgency or terrorism in Nigeria have given rise to other violent crimes like kidnapping, cattle rustling, murder, destruction of property to boost the perpetrators’ economic powers and/or political egos.
However, the efforts of the military, police and paramilitary in suppressing the skyrocketed violent nature of the region have been so infinitesimal and not been felt, just like a drop of water in an ocean. In the recent past, many cases of mass killing, kidnapping for ransom, arson, mass destruction of property to include farmlands, cultivation etc, have been recorded with little or no reportage or broadcast on the incidents while many feel unconcerned and relaxed. This is like a case of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s song, “Suffering and Smiling”.
Owing to the recorded cases of violence in Wushishi, Zungeru, Kontagora, Rijau, Tegina, up to certain parts of Kaduna territory, it is crystal clear that the Government and people of Niger State are under severe attacks and oppressions; it is not arguable that they need urgent attention and help from the Federal Government and international communities to salvage them as many of the agonies and anarchies being orchestrated in the region are not escalated or protected in the news. Yet people are killed in scores, while properties are massively destroyed.
The fears of an average Niger man and Nigerians in general are not the insecure environment alone but also looming continuous loss of lives and property and food scarcity, which may rock the nation and the West African sub-region due to massive destruction of farmlands and cultivations.
In this regard, I personally wish to commend the Nigeria Police Force and the ground troops from other security forces who have been at the battle theatres for their efforts in tackling insecurity in Niger State, but the Federal Government of Nigeria should, as a matter of urgency, rise to its responsibility and rescue the people of Niger State and other parts of Nigeria being riddled with crises.
I appeal to the people of Niger State to be calm while they form a formidable structure closely knitted together as a family to assist formal security strategies emplaced to suppress insecurity in the region and Nigeria at large.
In the same vein, I wish to sympathise with the families and friends of those who have been gruesomely murdered in the ongoing brouhaha and encourage those who have lost their properties in various degrees, to re-strategise and bounce back to their normal life as the current security challenges will be a thing of the past in no time.
