Over 257 persons were reportedly killed following the incessant clashes between the herdsmen and farmers, so far this year, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha has said.
Mustapha disclosed this, yesterday, at the opening ceremony of the Federal and States Security Administrators’ Meeting (FSSAM), taking place in Katsina State.
The SGF, who was represented by his Permanent Secretary, Sulaiman Haliru, said the figure was recorded in 30 incidents, and excluding the recent incidents.
Haliru, who doubles as the chairman of the forum, mentioned about seven states were most affected by the incidence.
According to him, “Within the last few months, we have recorded a total of over 30 incidence which have claimed lives of more than 257 persons within this year alone.
“States most affected are Zamfara, Adamawa, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Niger, Kaduna to mention but a few. In fact, other states in the southern part of the country are also affected,” he said.
Haliru also said the meeting will look into increasing cases of kidnapping, abduction as well as child abuse and proffer lasting solutions to the menace.
“Apart from this (herdsmen/farmers clash), we also have other problems, security challenges which are also compounding the security landscape. This is in the area of Kidnapping and abduction.
“Kidnapping and Abduction use to be restricted to some areas but now and from record it is virtually a national menace, becoming so rampant in everywhere. Another worrying issue is the increasing menace of child abuse. Children are now becoming victims of criminal rape and molestation.
“So, it calls for all hands on deck in order to control and put an end to the seemingly disturbing occurrence of the incidence,” Haliru said.
On the 2019 forthcoming general elections, Haliru called on the political actors to avoid utterances and actions that could trigger insecurity in the country.
Declaring open the event, Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari said the state government has always taken the issue of security seriously, and has invested so much in it and has achieved a lot in the protection of lives and properties of people in the state.
“Cumulatively, the state government spends over 60 million natural monthly in assisting and supporting the security agencies in the state.
“It is against this backdrop and our present financial position that I would like to solicit that the Federal Government come in and look into the issue of funding of security agencies operating in the states,” Masari appealed.
Earlier, the Secretary to the Government of Katsina State and the Chairman, Amnesty Dialogue Committee, Mustapha Inuwa described the essence of the security meeting as to build strategies to improve security in troubled states and the nation at large.
Meanwhile, suspected herdsmen, yesterday morning, invaded Agasha community in Guma LGA of Benue State, killing an elderly woman and setting many houses ablaze.
It was gathered that the gunmen, heavily armed with dangerous weapons, stormed the village at the wee hours of yesterday, shooting sporadically into air, thereby causing panic among villagers.
A source hinted this reporter that the shootings were still on at the time of this report, while over 15 houses have been razed by the gunmen.
Meanwhile, the Police Command in Niger yesterday said that a police Sergeant, Jibril Abubakar, was killed and his rifle taken away when gunmen attacked its Divisional Police Station at Kutigi in Lavun Local Government Area of the state.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Muhammadu Abubakar, disclosed this while addressing newsmen at the command headquarters .
He said that the gunmen stormed Kutigi police station around 3.50 am yesterday and shot at people, but were repelled by the guards on duty.
He said that the Commissioner of Police, Dibal Yakadi had constituted a seven-man committee led by ACP Abdullahi Tahir to probe the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.
He said that the command promised a N500,000 reward to anyone with useful information that could lead to the arrest of the gunmen.
The command solicited the support of residents for vital information to assist the command in apprehending bad elements in the state.