The Chairman of Isa Local Government Area (LGA) of Sokoto State, Alhaji Sharifu Kamarawa, has told Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, that some communities in the council are still under the control of bandits.
Receiving the Minister at the LGA secretariat on Thursday, the Chairman said that the bandits led by Kachalla Bello Turji, appointed and deposed village heads in those areas.
“Here in Isa town, we are living peacefully. The problem is in the eastern part of Isa. There are places that are still under the control of bandits. They appoint and depose village heads there.
“We are appealing for a military camp in Kagara to take care of those areas. We used to have a camp there before it was relocated. Then there was a relative peace in those places. So we want the camp back,” he appealed.
The chairman however admitted that since the death of Halilu Sububu, the bandits’ kingpin killed about a month ago, there had been a significant reduction in attacks on their communities.
According to him, they can now ply some roads which were formerly deserted.
In his remarks, the Minister said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was seriously concerned about insecurity in the North, a reason he appointed Northerners Ministers of Defence and heads of security operatives.
“The President also directed me to ensure militarisation of all the danger areas in the State. So we are going to create a military base at Gundumi which will be patrolling Gundumi-Marnona road which remained closed for years,” he added.
Matawalle further assured residents of Isa of deployment of more security operatives to the area.
“So we need your support because the issue of security is everyone’s business. We need to know about the bandits movement,” he said.
@Daily Trust