In what can be termed as legislative onslaught against banditry in the country, both chambers of the National Assembly last week, called on the Federal Government to declare bandits as terrorists. TAIYE ODEWALE reports
Meaning of banditry
The word banditry an uncountable noun, simply defined in the dictionary, refer to acts of robbery and violence in areas where the rule of law has broken down.
Though the rule of law, in practical sense, cannot be said to have broken down in any part of Nigeria but the crime of banditry is committed almost on daily basis with reckless abandon in the three geo political zones of the northern axis of the country, particularly, the North West geo – political zone which comprises Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna and Jigawa states.
Aside Jigawa and by extension, Kano states, virtually all the remaining five states in the zone, are more or less, havens for bandits who by way of proximity or modus operandi along the forest, extend their dastardly acts to Niger state in the North Central zone.
Military onslaughts
Expectedly, as a country where the rule of law and governance have not in anyway broken down, there have been military onslaughts against banditry in the affected states albeit selectively, which make bandits to relocate from one area to the other, depending on the offensives launched against them by the military and police.
Sokoto as new operational theatre
Out of the five affected states in the Northwest zone, Zamfara and Katsina seem to be the hotbed of the bandits in terms of weekly or daily operations making the military to focus on counter offensive operations on the two states.
But as part of their operational strategies, the bandits through the connecting forest, relocated from the two the states by moving to Sokoto state with attendant intensification of banditry in the state which within the last two months, has claimed close to 500 lives and destruction of property running into hundreds of millions of naira.
Lamentation and resolutions in the Senate
Apparently, worried by the increasing wave of banditry in Sokoto state in recent time as a result of onslaught against it by the military and police in neighbouring Zamfara state, Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi Gobir (APC Sokoto East), drew the attention of Senate to it last week Wednesday.
Senator Gobir who drew the attention through a jointly sponsored motion with eight other Senators, said Sokoto is now the haven of bandits due to military onslaughts against them in neighbouring state of Zamfara .
The motion entitled: “Banditry in Sokoto state” reads: “Note that Sokoto East Senatorial District has now become a safe haven for bandits due to the current crackdown on them in Zamfara state.
“Concerned that on Saturday, 25th September, 2021, Twenty One (21) Security personnel were killed in Dama and Gangara villages by rampaging bandits, 15 of them soldiers, 3 mobile police and 3 members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps; in addition to yet to be ascertained number of civilians from the neighboring villages. This has gone to portray the seriousness of the problem which requires concerted and urgent action by the declaration of total war on banditry.
“Worried that losing such number of trained Security personnel will further deplete the numerical strength of the security personnel we have in the country, thereby jeopardizing the security architecture of the country.
“Further worried that most of the bandits have now relocated to Sabon Birni and Isa Local Governments due to the sustained military operations at the Zamfara axis.
“No section of the state within the last two months has not been attacked in one way or the other by the bandits with attendant loss of innocent lives totalling about 500 when figures are put together from one affected community to the other.
“Not less than 50,000 Nigerians have hurriedly relocated to Niger Republic as a result of incessant attacks of armed bandits on their communities.
“Concerned that while the crackdown on the bandits was taking place in Zamfara state, no concrete measures have been taken in Sokoto state leaving it totally exposed to the activities of the bandits; and further worried that the present military onslaught on the bandits is not well co-ordinated because it is only being orchestrated in Zamfara state instead of all the front line states ravaged by banditry, that is, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger and Kaduna states.
“The operation should be holistic instead of restrictive in order to produce effective and the desired results”.
Consequently, as requested for in the motion, the Senate after exhaustive debate by Senators, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits as terrorists and wage total war against them.
The upper legislative chamber urged President Buhari to declare all the known leadership of the bandits wanted and track them wherever they are for arrest and prosecution.
They also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other disaster management outfits to as a matter of urgency, give all the necessary supports to the victims of the menace of banditry in Sokoto and other parts of the country.
Expectedly in his remarks, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said required legislative interventions should be made in making the war against banditry and other forms of criminalities by the military more potent and decisive.
“If we could pass over N800 billion in the supplementary budget, I don’t see why we cannot improve the resources up to N1 trillion and then hold our security agencies accountable”, he said.
Concurrence of action from House of Representatives
In giving the resolutions the seal of the entire National Assembly, the House of Representatives 24 hours after, precisely Thursday last week, debated on the menace and passed similar resolutions, number one of which is declaring bandits as terrorists.
The green chamber’s action in this respect was sequel to a motion sponsored to that effect by its Chairman, Committee on Defence, Hon Babajimi Benson from Lagos state.
Hon Benson in the motion said: ” if bandits are declared terrorists, security agencies will be more energised to fight the menace.
“This will underline the determination of the government to combat the wave of criminality and murders conducted by bandits all over the country.
“That will serve as a brave impetus to our security personnel to redouble their effort at dealing with this menace. Such declaration when given the force of law will renew the vigour of our military personnel and make them resolute in dealing with the menace of banditry as a mode of operation and rules of engagement will be scaled up accordingly.
“Such an order will officially bring the activities of bandits and their sponsors within the purvey of the terrorism prevention act and any person associated with such groups can then be prosecuted and sentenced to penalties in the act.”
Although resolutions in parliamentary parlance , are more of pieces of advice to the executive arm of government by the legislature, for the two chambers to have taken similar resolution on declaring bandits as terrorists within 24 hours, it is more of legislative onslaughts against the bandits and by extension, required impetus for the executive to intensify its war against them.
