by Pita Chibb.


The Niger State House of Assembly has summoned Governor Abubakar to explain why the government is doing nothing to address the incessant bandit attacks in the state.

The lawmakers who expressed dismay that everyday since November 2019, there have been bandits and gunmen attacks in the state with the government not doing anything about it.

They accused the government of  paying lip service to fight insecurity in the state, saying that they are doing nothing about it .

The Assembly also summoned the Commissioner of Police in the state and asked him to redeploy all Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in the security affected areas as they are not doing enough to combat the insecurity in the affected areas.

The lawmakers were responding to a motion by the member representing Rafi Constituency, Abdullahi Magani, calling on the executive arm of Government to find a lasting solution to banditry attacks in Rafi local government area.

According to him, the attacks are getting out of hand and the lives of the people are at risk, urging the House of Assembly to impress on the federal and state government to intervene in bringing lasting solution against banditry attacks in the state.

The member representing Gurara Constituency, Binta Mamman berated the government for not being sincere in its response to combating insecurity in the state, stressing that if the issue is  addressed, it would overwhelm everyone in the state.

She wondered why the government will spend a lot of money on combating COVID-19 and pay less attention on security.

"I do not know why the government is spending a lot of money on COVID-19 and we are not taking this security issue seriously, I can't understand."

The member representing Bosso Constituency,  Malik Madaki Bosso, said that it is the responsibility of any reasonable government to protect the lives of the people stating that, "but this is not what is happening in Niger state."

He added that the government is not serious about fighting the bandits, insisting that the Governor should appear before the house to explain to the Legislators, who are the representatives of the people, on what have been done in combating these bandits and ending the incessant attacks.

"The Governor should appear and tell Nigerlites because the people need to know what the government is doing regarding this. If that is not enough, I am ready to lead a protest to the government house so that the Governor will know that we are worried and tired of these attacks and his inactions. The Government is not serious about fighting banditry."

The member representing Agwara Constituency, Bello Ahmed, said that it is high time the members take drastic measure as representatives of the people and ask the Governor to come forward and explain to the people what the government is doing.

"As representatives of the people, we should stand firmly and do our job. We should not be afraid of anyone. We should be able to tell the government the reality of what the people are facing."

However, while moving the resolutions, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Honorable Abdullahi Bawa Wuse stepped down the motion summoning the Governor and opted to move a motion that the Governor should address the state in a broadcast to explain to the people the steps it is taking to address the insecurity.

The Speaker, while reading the resolution, summoned the Commissioner of Police and other Security agencies in the state to appear before plenary while directing the Commissioner of Police to transfer all Divisional Police officers (DPO)  in the security affected areas to other places