Senate advises FG to send fighter jets to flush out terrorists from their hideouts

The Senate President wonders why bandits have not been dealt with after the government declared them as terrorists.

Nigerian senators [Tope Brown] In a bid to put an end to kidnappings and killings in the country, the Senate has urged the Federal Government to send fighter jets to terrorists’ hideouts.

The Senate advised the government during its plenary on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, following a point of order raised on the “Urgent need for the Federal Government to take drastic actions to bring to an end the act of banditry and kidnapping in Faskari Local Government Area.”

The point of order was raised by Senator Bello Mandiya, the lawmaker representing Katsina South.

Mandiya said banditry and kidnapping have become a daily incidence in Katsina state.

In a statement by the Senate, the lawmaker was quoted to have said that on Sunday, January 31, 2022, gunmen kidnapped 38 persons at Ruwan Godiya, a Community in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

He said if killings and kidnappings of farmers is not stopped, its consequence would be huge on food sufficiency.

He said, “Worried that the continuous security challenges and related attacks by bandits on towns, villages, and communities in Faskari Local Government Area have meted untold hardship on the people and have subjected the affected areas under serious survival threat.

“Further worried that if this menace is not drastically and promptly addressed, the consequence is going to be huge on food sufficiency since the affected communities are mostly farmers”

In his remark, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan urged the military to ‘wake up’ and protect Nigerians.

He maintained that Nigerians expect an improvement in the fight against banditry and terrorism, adding that the military gets funding from the government.

Lawan wondered why bandits have not been dealt with after the government declared them as terrorists.

He said, “The expectation of their Senate is that there is supposed to be a remarkable difference in success in terms of the fight against insurgence, banditry, and militancy in Nigeria.

“The military is getting better funding from the government and what we expect is to see an improvement in output.

“I know the resources are not enough, but recently for one and a half years, the government has upscaled the level of funding for our military.

“Secondly, when we declared the bandits as terrorists, my understanding was they are going to be dealt with ruthlessly now. I wonder whether that is the case.

“The military-like some of our colleagues have said, need to wake up. We want to see a difference because we have made a difference in terms of funding.

“I know funding alone will not be enough, but funding can make a difference and we expect a difference in outcome.

“Thirdly, we need to mobilise our citizens, because when a hundred people are kidnapped and abducted, they are not taken by aircrafts, they are taken by motor bikes, pass through the villages and possibly towns, how come do we then say that nobody has seen something?

“We need our citizens to be part and parcel of our security architecture. In fact, there’s no way we can achieve better security for this country without the participation of the citizens in the fight against Insecurity.”

The Senate further urged the Security Agencies to comb all known hideouts of the kidnappers to rescue the 38 persons abducted by the gunmen in Ruwan Godiya.