Banditry: Policy Analyst Advises Northern Politicians Against Showing Bias Over Banditry
A policy analyst, Mr Igo Akaraga, has advised politicians in northern Nigeria against showing bias in the issue of banditry.
He said he was sure most Nigerians would be shocked at the recent kidnap of school students in Kaduna State in northern Nigeria.
He said the demand by bandits for food to feed school students after kidnapping them was ridiculous.
Bandits had recently abducted 121 students from Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna State and had demanded food from the school authority in order to feed them.
They had said the students would starve since they had no food to feed them.
The policy analyst who is also conflict manager however said that bandits were emboldened by pronouncements made by senior government officials from northern Nigeria and faulted comments and practices by some governors in northern Nigeria.
The policy analyst said: “The bandits have been emboldened by pronouncements coming from senior government officials, and that is where people are worried that discriminatory behaviour and practices and comments coming from government officials is where bandits are drawing oxygen from”.
He further said: “They are drawing their inspiration and they are encouraged and the earlier the federal government comes up with policy to stem them, to reign them in the better for all”.
A government official drew criticism when he said that bandits should be allowed to carry guns as part of pastoral culture.
Quoting United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), he said that about 833,000 children were not at school because of forced closure and described the figure as worrisome.
He said as educationally disadvantaged part of the country he expects governors in the region to do their best and protect school-going pupils and students.
He said comments and views expressed by government officials in northern Nigeria were not encouraging showing they were not giving needed attention to issue of banditry.
He said politicians in northern Nigeria should rather focus on safety of schools in the region than on forthcoming elections in the country.
He described government response to issue of security in northern Nigeria as weak saying it was “lackadaisical”.
He said: “You can see this is not just happening once, twice. It’s been recurring. It got to global limelight when the Chibok girls were kidnapped. So the response generally has been extremely very disorganized, disjointed and disoriented such that it has emboldened these bandits”.
He was speaking while expressing his views on radio station in Port-Harcourt Nigeria Info 92.3.
The public analyst said vigilante members could be used to secure the schools for protection.
He also said the federal government should be interested in taking steps to secure the schools.
