Residents flee Niger communities over insecurity

A prince of the Borgue Emirate Murtala Dantoro has raised the alarm that his residents are migrating to the Republic of Benin due to the rate of kidnappings.

Dantoro, who narrated the ordeal of the people to newsmen, while speaking in Minna, the Niger State capital called on the government and security agencies to arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.

The Prince put the figure of residents abducted from a mosque and other  communities in the local government area recently at between 500 and 600 but noted that the figure was gathered from sources. He however affirmed that the police were right by not giving any figures.

He also spoke on the need for the government, the security and civil society groups to provide permanent solutions to the relocation of the fleeing residents, saying the residents were taking their skills and talents with them to develop other places.

Dantoro said, “Security personnel have been deployed. Its just that we want more. We don’t want it after now, we want it in a proactive approach.

We don’t want it when it has happened, we want it before it happens.

 “We want to see permanent infrastructures, permanent personnel. Borgue land is vast to accommodate any kind of camp by the security agencies. I can tell you that the insecurity rate in Borgue Emirate is very, very alarming.

stated that due to fear, of course, it is natural that people will run away from where they  don’t feel safe any more. That us why I drew the attention of the federal and state governments to the fact that we are losing our citizens, fellow Nigerians, their skills and talents which they are taking away to develop other countries.

 “Why don’t we provide the security that will keep these people in their homes, so that they can produce food in their farms. They have skills that can add value to the communities.

“But the migration is happening, in large scale. To be honest, people are leaving to where they feel safe, and that’s not just to only Republic of Benin. Some of them have relocated to New Bussa, the capital city of Borgue Local Government Area and some of the stakeholders in New Bussa are doing their best to provide homes to let them know they are safe even though we are not there yet.

“We are doing our best to provide security and to speak on their behalf that is why I also call on humanitarian agencies both national and international, especially UNICEF and other organisations to look into this matter in providing shelter and other relief materials not for temporal but at least to a reasonable stage where our people will be okay,” Dantoro urged.

The Prince of Borgue kingdom  who is the House of Representatives candidate for Agwara and Borgue under the African Democratic Congress further called on the police to work closely with the local vigilante to tackle terrorism, stressing that they are the ones on ground.

“In terms of the figure, I’ll  be honest with you, from experience, I can tell you that from my gathering, its above 500, this is what I was told. But whether it is above or less, I don’t know. I can’t give the specific number.

‘This information I am giving you is what was given to me. I wasn’t there. I pray that this thing stops. I didn’t give a specific number that is why the police didn’t give a specific number.

will say it again, the security should work hand in hand with the local security that is the vigilante that are recognised either at the local government level or the Emirate if they want to succeed in this fight. If they don’t work with them they will never succeed,” he said.

The Niger State Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun, who represented the state Commissioner of Police Adamu Ellema at an event, while speaking on the efforts to rescue the abducted residents declined to give an exact number of residents that were abducted  by the terrorists.

Abiodun only assured those at the event and the entire residents that rescue operations had commenced, even as he acknowledged the challenges involved in giving the accurate number of those abducted.

He said the priority was to rescue the victims safely without exposing security personnel to danger.

“If you rush it, you might end up losing the lives of these victims you are trying to rescue. So, it is not about timing, but how prepared we are. It is about analysing all the strategies we need to put in place to rescue these victims unhurt,” Abiodun said.

According to him, “no fewer than five communities were affected by the attacks, leaving residents displaced and properties destroyed. The police can not give the exact figure of persons abducted because it may not be accurate. It may be more or less’“