Niger State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Bago, has declared that he would neither negotiate with bandits nor pay ransom for the release of kidnapped victims.
Bago’s declaration followed the demand for payment of N400 million in hard currency ransom for four top indigenes of the state, who had now spent four weeks in the kidnappers’ den.
“I will not negotiate with bandits. I will not pay ransom. The moment we start paying, they will open shop on our heads and keep kidnapping people,” the governor was quoted as saying in a statement made available to newsmen in Minna by his Special Adviser on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso.
Bago described banditry in Niger as “a state of war that requires collective resistance.”
Bago, according to the statement, spoke when he paid a condolence visit to the people of Rijau and Magama local government areas, whose communities were recently attacked by bandits.
He said, “The state has reached a point where the people must stand up and defend themselves,” warning, “Ransom payments would only turn kidnapping into a thriving business.”
He said, “It is a constitutional duty of government for the lives and property of the people to be protected.”
Bago assured that he would go all out to do that as the constitution did not state how far he should go in protecting the people.
He declared, “We are surrounded by enemies, but we will not give up. The constitution gives us the right to defend our lives and property, and we will do just that. There is no going back.”
Bago described “as embarrassing and unacceptable” the fact that communities could be invaded and their residents turned into internally displaced persons.
He announced plans to recruit and train 10,000 members into the Joint Task Force (JTF) to help restore security across the state.
Bago declared a total ban on mining across the entire Zone C of the state, covering eight local government areas, including Magama, Kontagora, Rijau, Wushishi, Mariga, Borgu, Mashegu, and Agwara. He said this was because illegal mining had become one of the major drivers of insecurity in the area.
The governor assured the victims of recent attacks that his administration would support them, promising compensation for families of those killed, medical treatment for the injured, and assistance for those who lost their sources of livelihood.
A member of the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission, his daughter, and driver and a former member of the board of the State Universal Basic Education Board were kidnapped a month ago, with the kidnappers, reportedly, reaching out to their families to demand for the payment of N400 million ransom.
Laleye Dipo
