Former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed grave concerns about the growing frequency of banditry and terrorism in Nigeria.
His comments came in response to a tragic incident on Sunday in Yargoje village, located in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State, where an attack by bandits resulted in the death of 20 individuals.
Atiku conveyed his thoughts through a post on his X handle on Tuesday. This followed an official confirmation from the Katsina Police Command, which, in a statement on Monday by its spokesman ASP Abubakar Sadiq-Aliyu, verified the casualties. The police report detailed that the bandits ambushed a police armoured personnel carrier that was responding to a distress call at the nearby Gidan Tofa and Dan Nakwabo villages, resulting in the deaths of four police officers and two members of the state-owned Community Watch Corps.
In his reaction, Atiku lamented the routine nature of these violent attacks and criticized the government’s apparent lack of effective response, despite significant budget allocations for defense. He stated, “I am saddened by reports of the attack on Yargoje village in Kankara LGA of Katsina State, which claimed scores of lives and the kidnap of vulnerable women and children. It is also sad that the bandits ambushed the police armoured personnel carrier responding to the distress call at Gidan Tofa and Dan Nakwabo villages, killing four police officers and two members of the Katsina State Community Watch Corps. Most worrisome to me is that these acts of banditry and terrorism have become routine, with the government seemingly helpless and nonchalant about it despite the enormous annual budget for defence.”
The former vice president extended his sympathies to the families of the victims and urged the federal government to take more decisive action to protect the lives and property of its citizens. “While I sympathise with the families of the victims, I will once again call on the government to be alive to its responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the citizens,” he added.
