By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Abuja
As a result of the spate of killings and cattle rustling by gunmen in Birnin Gwari and environs, soldiers have been deployed to the forest bordering the community to flush out the bandits and sweep the forest clean of hoodlums up to Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina and Niger states.
Kaduna state Commissioner of Police, Umar Shehu said, this yesterday when he welcomed a delegation of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on a peace advocacy visit to the police headquarters Kaduna.
He said: “I met three disturbing issues when I resumed this office; Southern Kaduna where we have Fulani militia versus the community, Birnin Gwari where armed bandits have been terrorising the area for the last two years.
“They live in forest between Dansadau in Zamfara state, Kontagora in Niger state, Kebbi and Katsina state. The military had entered the forest and they are still there for the last 16 days and the bandit issue is now history.”
He added that the state also suffered from rumour mongering which spread rapidly through gsm and social network.
The Director General of NOA, Mr Mike Omeri,said they are in Kaduna as part of peace advocacy tour of critical stakeholders in the country that had seen them go to Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kaduna states from where they would proceed to Zamfara state.
Omeri, who was represented by the NOA Director Administration and Human Resources, Mr Solomon Ado, said: “We are on tour of states in the country to mobilise support of Nigerian citizens to partner government efforts on peaceful coexistence. If we don’t play our role to ensure peace we would continue to have security problems.”
He said the peace advocacy aimed at curbing religious, ethnic crises, farmer-herder crisis and restore peace and harmonious coexistence to the country.
The NOA team visited the Kaduna CAN office and would round up its Kaduna tour with visit to Moroa and town hall meeting in Kagoro today.
