Eight fighter jets have been deployed in Zamfara State to chase out bandits who have seized the state by the throat, The Nation learnt on Wednesday.
In fact, a primary school that served as a base for the bandits has been “shelled” by the Air Force, according to a source who pleaded not to be named because of the “security implication” of being identified.
The news came as senators took turns to lament the security situation, with some calling for state police to stem the tide of violence.
The source also hinted of the measures taken to restore peace in Zamfara and Kaduna states.
The source said: “The roads linking Katsina to Zamfara State (Kauran Namoda-Zurmi-Jibiya road) has been retaken by troops and motorists have been plying the route again. The military and the police are after the bandits who have been fleeing into the bush.
“A landing platform has been created in Birni-Gwari where military jets can land, refuel and takeoff. So, they don’t have to go to Abuja and Kaduna to refuel for operations. Eight fighter jets have also been deployed in Zamfara State.”
President Muhammadu Buhari will today chair an “extra-ordinary” security meeting at the State House, Abuja, where he will be briefed by Service chiefs on the worrisome security situation in the land.
Expected at the meeting are Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Rear Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas and Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu.
Also billed to attent the meeting are Defence Minister Brig.-Gen Mansur Dan-Ali; National Security Adviser (NSA) Maj.-Gen. Babagana Mongunu and Department of State Services (DSS) Director-General Yusuf Bichi.
A Presidency source, who confirmed the meeting, said the security Chiefs will take turns to brief the President who just returned from a trip from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Comments on insecurity dominated proceedings, with senators taking turns to paint harrowing pictures of near breakdown of law and order in their constituencies.
No senator wanted to be left out of the debate of what they described as the general insecurity in the country.
They suggested “immediate and uncommon” measures to prevent the country from slipping into a failed state.
The outpouring of indignation followed a motion by Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa on the need to create an intervention fund in the 2019 appropriation to cater for the deteriorating humanitarian crisis resulting from the activities of armed bandits in Zamfara State.
Marafa, in his lead debate, said he was aware of the recent protest staged in Abuja, other states and indeed by Nigerians in the Diaspora as a reaction to the deteriorating state of insecurity in Zamfara State.
The Zamfara Central senator praised the protesters for their support and stressed “the need to sustain such sense of solidarity, as it has the potential of compelling those in authority to do the needful”.
He lamented that the activities of armed bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers remained unabated.
The senator noted that many people had died since 2011, besides the humanitarian crises which include but not limited to growing number of widows, rape victims and orphans.”
According to him, “a conservative estimate of 11,000 male adult have been killed by bandits, leaving behind an average of 22,000 widows (at two wives/person) and an estimated 44,000 orphans (at an average of four children/deceased)”.
Marafa said that in terms of casualty ratio and displacements, Zamfara State has more security issues than many states in the Northeast and Northcentral that were being given prominence by the mainstream media and the Federal Government in terms of recognition and assistance.
Marafa added that owing to cultural and religious consideration, the burden of the widows, orphans, rape victims and displaced persons was being borne largely by close relatives, extended families and sometimes immediate neighbors who can no longer cope.
The killings, he said, have brought untold hardship to several other families who have to accommodate displaced persons and families, overstretching accommodation, food, clothing and other sundry.
He urged the National Assembly to provide for N10 billion in the 2019 Appropriation as Intervention Funds to cater for displaced persons and others affected by the activities of armed bandits in the Northwest state.
Marafa prayed the Senate to urge the Federal Government to set up an Ad-hoc Committee to be known as Presidential Initiatives on Zamfara State (PIZAMS), with a 10-year lifespan to manage the said funds and subsequent allocation/donations.
He noted that over 70 per cent of the people were no longer sleeping in their homes for fear of being kidnapped.
The senator relived how his sister was murdered by bandits in her matrimonial home.
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said the Senate should join Nigerians and the media to show concern about Zamfara State.
To Ekweremadu, the time has come for a state of emergency in the state, not to remove the governor but to initiate extreme measures to stabilize the state.
The Enugu West senator also said that the country should no longer shy away from introducing state police.
According to him, state police will go a long way to nip in the bud most of the security challenges in states.
Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan, who also supported the motion, insisted that the Senate should be practical in its approach to security issues because Nigerians were losing their lives.
He recalled that the Federal Government recently banned mining in Zamfara State to prevent criminals from using mining to perpetrate crime.
Lawan, who said that no amount is too much to save the lives of Nigerians, noted: “This is one motion that we can spend weeks to consider because it deals with why government exists.
He suggested that relevant committees should engage security agencies to put the Senate in better position to appreciate what is going on.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South), who had earlier raised the issue of insecurity in his constituency, cautioned against living a pretentious life.
He lamented that “never in the history of this country have we faced this level of insecurity”.
Bwacha insisted that something uncommon must be done to save the situation.
He said: “Before the elections, some people were grandstanding. Now that the elections are over, can we now do the right thing? There is no doubt, everything seems not to be working; we must do something urgently.”
Senator Emmanuel Paulker said that the number of people killed in Zamfara State was more than the number of people killed by Boko Haram in Borno State.
Senator Shehu Sani said that the killings in Zamfara State had gone beyond the state to other neighbouring states.
Insisting that the Senate must agree that the country is at war, the Kaduna Central senator said that the reports from Zamfara were worse than the reports from Somalia and Afghanistan.
Sani recalled how he escaped being kidnapped on his way to Kaduna State, warning that what is going on in the country are symptoms of a failed state.
Senate Chief Whip Olusola Adeyeye identified the 1999 Constitution as the country’s problems.
The 1999 Constitution, he said, cannot give the country peace, progress and unity.
All the prayers in the motion were unanimously adopted.
Senate President Bukola Saraki said: “From the contributions we have had, I think it is key that we begin to look at the problem and look for long-term solutions. I think that what we did yesterday (Tuesday) in trying to strengthen the funding of the police and what we have before us, the Police Reform Bill, which would be laid today. The sooner that we can pass that will also help us in addressing the insecurity challenges.
“But more importantly is that we must go back to what a lot of us had been advocating here, that there is need for us to have state or community police. It is the way forward. Otherwise, we will continue to run into these problems. In the area of oversight, there is a lot also that we need to do to ensure that we hold the security agencies accountable. And we need to move very fast in this area.”