The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has kicked against some of the measures taken by some Governors Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger States in order to contain the escalating killings, destruction and kidnappings, saying they are imposition of additional hardships on communities in the region.
The measures included closure of markets, schools and restriction of movement in certain roads, imposition of curfew, ban of cattle movement, shutdown of communications networks.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had ordered telecommunication companies to shut down their base stations in Zamfara State effective September 3, 2021 following incessant abductions of school children.
Kaduna, Katsina and Niger States had suspended weekly markets.
Director, Publicity and Advocacy (NEF), Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, in a statement, said the measures would embolden the bandits to wreak more havocs.
He said the measures represent virtual economic and social lockdowns on people who had been at the mercy of criminals for a long time.
He said unless the measures were accompanied by an aggressive and effective assault on the banditry and kidnapping industry, “they’ll merely add to the misery and hopelessness of our communities”.
“Worse, they could further embolden the bandit and the kidnappers when it becomes clear that governments and security agencies cannot go beyond lockdowns on communities.
“Communities themselves will lose even more faith in the capacity of the Nigerian State to respond to their desperate circumstances. The perception that communities are on their own must never be allowed to take deeper roots, but it’ll, when people see only the bandit and the kidnapper winning.”
He urged the federal government to assist states to relieve communities living under additional pressures.
“State governments imposing additional hardships on communities must know that the measures they’re introducing must produce tangible results within a period that makes them meaningful and tolerable,” he said.